England's Children's Commissioner Rachel de Souza has published a report revealing that Black children are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, with the racial disparity appearing to worsen after a period of partial improvement. The findings, drawn from data covering all 44 police forces across England and Wales between July 2023 and June 2024, recorded 362 strip-searches of under-18s, of whom 31% were Black despite Black children making up a far smaller share of the population; nearly half of all searches resulted in no further action. The report also highlights the "adultification" of Black children — a pattern in which officers perceive them as older and less deserving of protection — and notes that Black children are five times more likely to have force used against them during searches, with officers more often citing their "size or build" as justification rather than any identified vulnerability.