United Kingdom: body searches of minors, a practice denounced

London police making an arrest on the sidelines of a demonstration, January 9, 2021. REUTERS - SIMON DAWSON

Text by: Emeline Vin Follow

3 mins

In London, the police are again accused of institutional racism.

The Commissioner for Children's Rights, Rachel de Souza, has just revealed data that she considers “ 

 ” for young Britons.

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From our correspondent in London

, 

The Commissioner for Children's Rights recorded 650 body searches of children in the space of two years.

These figures come from data from the Metropolitan Police, the “Met”, the London police.

Child Q was not an isolated incident.

The Children's Commissioner today publishes figures obtained from the Met Police that suggest in almost a quarter of strip searches of children no 'appropriate adult' was present, in breach of their own guidelines.

https://t.co/PuLXRLnYjL

— Children's Commissioner for England (@ChildrensComm) August 8, 2022

This figure in itself is already impressive: 650 body searches between 2018 and 2020. But it is the details that worry the Commissioner, Rachel de Souza.

Three elements that are obvious: a quarter of these searches were carried out without the presence of an "

 ", a parent, guardian, social worker, or failing that, any person over 18 whose mission is to "

 ".

This therefore means that approximately 150 young people, between 10 and 17 years old, underwent a body search (an act that is still not insignificant) alone with the police, in violation of the law. 

►Also read: In the United Kingdom, the boss of the London police resigns

More frequent searches for black people

In half of the cases, the excavations yielded nothing.

Rachel de Souza therefore believes that they were not necessary in the first place.

And this point is intrinsically linked to the following: 60% of body searches concerned young blacks, even though they represent only 20% of the population of Greater London.

Moreover, these young people, almost exclusively boys, represent the vast majority of body searches without the presence of an adult.

This leads the Commissioner to accuse the “Met” of racism and of “ 

 ” racialized children, that is to say treating them as adults without questioning their age. 

Rachel de Souza requested this data.

They have not been made public automatically, following a case revealed at the beginning of the year: the “case of child Q”.

In 2020, at a school in London, a 15-year-old girl called the police because teachers thought she " 

".

The police came to the school and strip searched her, making her remove her sanitary napkin, although her parents had not been notified.

Four police officers have been suspended following this case.

The "Met" assured that it was an isolated case.

But it was in his wake that Rachel de Souza demanded figures on body searches of minors, and declared on Monday August 8 that unfortunately, no, " 

". 

►Also read

:

Searches on minors denounced by defenders of rights

There is currently no data for the period 2020-2022.

The "Met", following the commissioner's report, accepted the conclusions and ensures that it works to ensure that minors searched in the body are treated in an " 

 " manner.

The London institution also explains that it provides new training to its services on these themes.

Investigators also now need the authorization of an inspector (hierarchical superior) to search a minor.

Not enough for rights defenders who demand an outright end to body searches, deemed dehumanizing, for minors.

►Also read:

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