A failure to safeguard female victims of crime. Unlawful strip searches used as a disciplinary tool. Unnecessary use of force during routine stops, often resulting in trauma. These are some of the shocking encounters with police experienced by racialised girls and young women surveyed for an upcoming StopWatch report.
Under the ‘About Us. By Us. For Us’ participatory action model of research, a team of girls and young women conducted semi-structured interviews of 25 Black, Asian and Mixed-race girls and young women in London and Manchester. The respondents’ testimonies unveil recurring patterns of police misconduct on a systemic scale, including: failing to safeguard victims of crime; minimising victims’ experiences; acting against protocol; verbal or emotional abuse; undertaking dangerous manoeuvres which escalated encounters; taking disproportionate measures in response to non-threatening behaviour; harassment; using police powers as an intimidation tactic; turning a blind eye to other officers’ misconduct; and acting above the law.
One interviewee said police officers ‘made jokes about the way I smelled, my clothes and my pubic hair’ during a strip search. Another reported being made to squat during a strip search – against the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice – before the officers who searched her admitted that they ‘were not looking for an item’ and had ‘conducted the search to punish her’.
The survey found that:
- Almost half of girls and women reported getting stopped by police while in a vehicle. All of them were Black
- The majority were not given a reason for their stop, half of whom were Black
- Over a third of interviewees who were searched were also strip searched, the majority of whom are Black
- Of those who were searched, almost two thirds were not given a reason for the search
- None of the girls and women searched received a legally required record of the encounter from police
Speaking about the project, peer researcher Sara Owusu said:
‘I've had some traumatic stop and search encounters and I’ve experienced first hand humiliation and fear. Becoming a peer researcher was my way of taking control of that narrative... of letting people understand that my experiences don't define me as a victim, but could be the fuel to the research.’
The report’s findings have empowered the girls and women involved to push for the following recommendations to help improve interactions between women and the police:
- The use of force against girls (and boys) during stop and searches should be prohibited.
- A presumption of innocence for children, to be treated as exploited victims rather than offenders
- In addition to the provisions for Appropriate Adults, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice should tighten the rules over more thorough searches (MTS) and exposure of intimate parts (EIP) searches take place:
- A requirement in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to ensure that on release from arrest, individuals – especially women, children and vulnerable people – are able to get home safely.
The Girls and Young Women’s project is a piece of Participatory Action Research centring the lives of girls and young women impacted by policing #GIRLSMATTERTOO
We’d like to thank the National Lottery for their funding assistance in helping us to realise the project.
