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Children as young as eight are being strip-searched by the police, according to a report showing "deeply concerning" and "widespread" failures.

It also found some children were strip-searched in the back of police vans, schools and fast-food outlets.

The report by Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza showed 2,847 children were strip-searched in England and Wales from 2018 to mid-2022.

The National Police Chiefs' Council will "carefully consider" the findings.

The Runnymede Trust, a race equality charity, said: "Our children are being failed by the state institutions there to protect them."

The report found black children were up to six times more likely to be searched than the overall child population.

More than half (52%) of the searches took place without an appropriate adult confirmed to be present - a legal requirement, except when there is serious risk to a child's life or welfare.

And the data shows 51% of the searches led to no further action.

Dame Rachel requested data in the wake of the Child Q scandal, which came to light in March 2022.

The case of the 15-year-old - strip-searched at school by two female Metropolitan Police officers while on her period and without an appropriate adult present - drew national outrage.

It prompted Dame Rachel to request figures from Scotland Yard, which she found so concerning that she then asked all forces for comparable data.

more at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65081765