A protest will take place in Hackney today over the treatment of a black 15-year-old schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police while she was on her period.
The teenager, known as Child Q, was subjected to the search by two female Metropolitan Police officers after being falsely accused of cannabis possession at the end of 2020, a safeguarding report found.
The Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, published earlier this month, said that racism “was likely to have been an influencing factor” in the “traumatic” search that was held without an adult present – and in the knowledge that the teenager was menstruating.
Three Met Police constables are currently under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Child Q’s story has sparked widespread outrage and a planned protest is now due to take place at Stoke Newington Police Station at 4pm, organised by Hackney Cop Watch.
The Hackney branch of Stand up to Racism has planned a demonstration at the same location at 5pm.
A march in solidarity with Child Q will also take place on Sunday 20 March at 1pm starting from Stoke Newington Police Station and finishing at Hackney Town Hall.
The weekend protest will call for “dignity in education” and protection “for all black girls and boys dehumanised in our education and policing system”.
Child Q, who is in therapy to resolve trauma and self-harming following the event, said she did not know if she will “ever feel normal again”.
In a statement, she added: “Someone walked into the school, where I was supposed to feel safe, took me away from the people who were supposed to protect me and stripped me naked, while on my period.”
The Hackney council review on the incident found that “adultification bias” meant that Child Q was not afforded the same level of innocent presumption as other children due to racial prejudice.
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Campaigner Patrick Vernon tweeted his support for the protests: “I am still sickened and angry. We need full accountability and criminal prosecutions. Like the Windrush Scandal, warm apologies are now outdated.”
Sadiq Khan and Hackney MP Dianne Abbott have publicly condemned the officers involved.
Ms Abbott said: “The indignities that Child Q was subjected to are not an aberration, they’re part of a bigger picture of institutional racism and discrimination within policing.”
