More than 60 under-18s a week were subjected to intrusive searches, some of them as young as 10
More than 60 children a week are being strip-searched by police in England and Wales, with those who are black, Asian or mixed race significantly more likely to be targeted, new figures reveal.
But Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, described the figures as “deeply disturbing” and said they exposed a “stark racial disparity” in the strip-searching of children, with black and biracial children “significantly overrepresented”.For children, a far higher proportion of those strip-searched self-defined as being black or mixed race compared with adults – 37% compared with 19%.
In the Sussex police force area, which had the highest rate of searches of children as a proportion of the total searched – 15% – non-white youngsters were much more likely to be searched than their white peers, according to anAbout 21% of the children targeted for searches were black. Less than 2% of people in Sussex overall describe their ethnicity as black, according to the latest census data.
Labour’s home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “These figures reinforce the need for an urgent, comprehensive review of the way police powers are being used and whether safeguards are in place. In government, we would ensure that new mandatory rules and safeguards on the strip-searching of children are put in place as a matter of urgency”.
“We need to strip the police of these powers and instead invest in communities where people have the opportunities and resources to thrive and flourish, rather than be subjected to aggressive and deeply harmful policing practices.”The figures, published late on Friday, are the first to give a thorough insight into the national use of strip-searches for children.
Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said that strip-searching was “intrusive” and “potentially traumatic”.
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