Strip searching strips our dignity.
It’s daunting enough when you get arrested by police, then placed into custody and thrown into a cell. Then you have to go through a degrading strip search. You have to strip naked, turn around, and “bend and part” in front of complete strangers.
This process is so demoralising and, for many, it triggers a trauma response from past child abuse or sexual abuse. It’s not only humiliating, but it can also lead to mental health issues like depression, body dysmorphia and PTSD, to name a few.
In a lot of cases, incarcerated people are moved between cells and subjected to multiple strip searches before even reaching prison. Then there’s the prison system which, upon arrival, makes people repeat this process in front of multiple strangers, repeating the traumatisation. When attending court proceedings, you are dehumanised even further as the process repeats when you are placed in holding cells at court, and again when you are returned to the prison site.
Strip searches are also conducted if you are placed in management cells within the prison, which can affect normal sexual experiences with yourself and others. This can continue for many years post-incarceration and can develop into serious relational problems.
There are X-ray machines in all prisons now and they can be used as an alternative to these invasive searches.
Please petition against this abuse here:
Thank you,
Nikita.
