A black schoolgirl was strip searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis.
The “traumatic” search by Metropolitan Police officers took place at the girl’s school without another adult present and they were aware that she was menstruating, a safeguarding report found.
According to the report, police arrived at the school after being called by teachers, who said they were concerned that the teenager had drugs in her possession because she smelt of cannabis.
She was taken to the medical room and strip searched by two female officers, while teachers remained outside.
During the ordeal her intimate body parts were exposed and she was asked to take off her sanitary towel, according to the review.
No drugs were found. She was then sent home by taxi, later sharing her distress with her mother.
The report concluded that the strip search should never have happened, was unjustified and racism “was likely to have been an…
Source: Linda Ikeji
