A report from the Children’s Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, has found that Black children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, and over five times more likely than Asian children.

The findings, based on data from July 2023 to June 2024 across all 44 forces, come more than five years after the case of Child Q – the Black 15-year-old schoolgirl strip-searched while menstruating by officers at a school in east London. Two officers were dismissed for gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing last summer.

The report also found that Black children are nearly five times more likely to have force used against them during a search than white children, with officers more likely to cite their “size, gender or build” as justification – raising concerns about the “adultification” of Black children. Strikingly, in 43% of cases where force was used, no further action was taken.

De Souza warned that too many strip-searches remain unnecessary and unsafe. Nearly half of all searches result in no further action, and some are still being carried out in public view and without an appropriate adult present