New figures of children being strip-searched ‘deeply’ concerning, says Children’s Commissioner for England

Police stand accused of abusing their powers by strip-searching thousands of children across England and Wales – some as young as eight.

A scathing report ordered by the Children’s Commissioner shows that almost 3,000 children were strip-searched in England and Wales between 2018 and 2022.

Of these, almost a quarter involved children aged 10-15. The vast majority were boys, while more than a third of searches involved Black boys. Just over half of the searches led to no further action.

We spoke to Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England