The governing board of a London school where a Black schoolgirl was strip-searched has reportedly apologised and claimed staff were “not aware a strip-search was taking place”.
Child Q was strip-searched by female Metropolitan Police officers at her Hackney-based school in 2020 without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating. The 15-year-old had been wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis.
The case has sparked outrage from politicians and the public, with London mayor Sadiq Khan sharing his “dismay and disgust”; the teenager is taking civil action against the Metropolitan Police and her school, the law firm Bhatt Murphy said last week.
“The incident involving Child Q is harrowing, and we understand and share the sadness and anger that is being felt by the community,” the governing body said.
“While the school was not aware that a strip search was taking place, we wholly accept that the child should not have been left in the situation that she was.
“For this, we have offered a full and formal apology to Child Q and her family, and continue to work with them to provide what support we can.”
A Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, conducted by City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) and published last week, concluded the strip-search should never have happened, was unjustified and racism “was likely to have been an influencing factor”. It also published a series of recommendations to the police and Government.
This comes as new data reveals that most children in London who were strip-searched by the police in the last three years come from ethnic minority backgrounds.
A change.org petition, demanding an end to the adultification of Black girls and policing in schools, has garnered over 22,000 signatures.
This comes as dozens of Black professionals have written to the education secretary and home secretary this week, urging them to take immediate action in bringing about safeguarding and policing reform following the Child Q incident, The Independent revealed.
A government spokesperson said: “This was a distressing incident which should not have happened. We are in touch with the school in question, where staff are taking steps to support the child involved and her family.
“Schools should be places where pupils feel safe and protected, which is why we have strengthened our safeguarding guidance and extended it to all schools and post-16 settings – staff should receive regular safeguarding training to improve their confidence in managing sensitive situations.”
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