Strip Search - Child Q and issues beyond

A BBC File on 4 investigation (May 24, 2022) documented how the number of girls being strip-searched in the capital is rising.  The programmes analysis of data released under a freedom of information request showed that seventy-eight girls were stripped searched in London police stations last year.  Thirty-two of those girls were black or mixed race. File on 4 also asked all 44 police forces in England and Wales to give figures.  31 responded, telling the BBC that in the last 5 years they have strip-searched 30,000 children.  That is equivalent to around 50 children a week. Nationally, black and mixed-race children are disproportionally likely to be strip searched but particularly so by the Metropolitan Police (MET) which is responsible for half of all searches of under 18s.  And while it was the strip search of a black girl that hit the headlines this year, it is black boys who are disproportionately targeted.  Last year the MET strip searched 15,00 boys, 917 of whom where black or mixed race.