Black children in England and Wales almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched than white peers – report | Police
Black children in England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white peers, a report has found.
England’s children’s commissioner, Rachel de Souza, said black children were also over-represented in situations where police used force and were more likely to be given “their height, gender or build” as justification.
The findings, which suggest worsening racial disparities, come more than five years after the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old Black schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police officers while she was menstruating.
A disciplinary panel last summer found two police officers committed gross misconduct during a “disproportionate” and “humiliating” incident at an east London school. The pair were dismissed without notice from the Metropolitan Police.
Wednesday’s report found the “deeply intrusive and potentially traumatic experience” was often used for suspicion of drug possession, but almost half of all searches still did not result in further action.
The latest findings from De Souza’s office are based on data from July 2023 to June 2024 across all 44 forces in England and Wales.
During this period, a total of 362 people under the age of 18 were strip-searched. Half are white, 31% black, 11% Asian, 1.7% mixed ethnicity and 12% other. In 3.9%, the child’s ethnicity was unknown or not recorded.
The commissioner’s office found that, taking into account the rate of the general population, Black children were disproportionately nearly eight times more likely to be strip-searched than white children and five times more likely than Asian children.
The report noted that some searches were still conducted in public and without the presence of an appropriate adult. The data also showed that three in 10 strip searches (30%) involved children who had been searched at least once before.
According to a different data set, black children were nearly five times more likely than white children to have force used during a search.
In cases where force was used against a white child during a search, officers were more likely to indicate that those children had mental health issues, but for Black children, the reason identified was often their height or build, the report said.
De Souza said too many strip searches are still unnecessary, unsafe and underreported.
“My latest research reveals a disturbing truth: despite some promising green progress with child searches decreasing overall since 2020, the drive to practice racial bias continues to impact their numbers and child strip searches are far from eliminated.
“Black children are consistently more likely than their peers to be strip-searched by police. And although this disparity began to narrow in my last report, the trend appears to be reversing.
“This imbalance persists when looking at the use of force against children. Black children are once again over-represented in numbers: they are five times more likely to have force used against them by police officers than their white peers, and are more likely to have their ‘height, gender or build’ cited as justification for force.”
“Since the story of Child Q, my long-standing concern in this five-year long investigation has been the ‘adultification’ of Black children, where they are perceived as older than they are and somehow less deserving of protection. We cannot accept a system that treats children differently based on their appearance. Children should be treated as children first and foremost.”
The report stated that force such as handcuffs, firearms or stun guns were used in almost one fifth (17%) of all stops and searches against children between April 2024 and March 2025.
But in 43 per cent of cases where force was used, no further action was taken, which the commissioner said called for “questioning the use of necessary and proportionate testing”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are introducing comprehensive safeguards on strip searches of children and young people and introducing reforms to raise policing standards, improve investigation and tackle abuse.”
Andy Mariner, deputy chief constable of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which leads stop and search, said the force had made changes to its strip search policy and was working closely with the College of Policing to update its policies.
“While there are positive signs that the number of strip searches is decreasing over time, we continue to work with policing partners, stakeholders and academics to understand and address the disproportionate use of stop and search, which we understand can undermine trust between policing and communities,” he said.
“We are committed to increasing transparency around our use of stop and search, including strip searches, which is a legitimate and useful policing tool that will help us remove dangerous weapons and drugs from the streets, but we recognize that when used inappropriately it can harm our relationships with affected communities.”
