Child Q: Schoolgirl strip-search not isolated issue, police data suggests

Key Facts

By Ashitha Nagesh Community affairs correspondent Image source, PA Media Image caption, The Commissioner requested the Met Police data following the case of Child Q, which sparked protests in London The strip-search of a black girl by police at school in east London was not an isolated case, England's children's commissioner has said.
Dame Rachel de Souza, who became children's commissioner last year, said she requested the figures from the Met Police after details surrounding the strip-search of the 15-year-old black girl, known as Child Q, at her school in Hackney in 2020 were revealed earlier this year.
During the incident, the girl was taken out of an exam to the school's medical room and strip-searched by two female Met police officers, who were looking for cannabis, while teachers remained outside.
PA Media In numbers: Strip-searches in schools 650children aged 10 to 17 strip-searched between 2018 and 2020 58%of boys strip-searched were black 23%of strip-searches were carried out without an appropriate adult present 53%of children strip-searched were released without any further action Source: Met Police / Children's Commissioner for England When police strip-search a child, they are legally required to make sure there is another adult present - designated an "appropriate adult" - unless there is an urgent risk of serious harm.