Interim guidance on strip-searches conducted by UK police officers could risk an increase in the number of assaults against trans people.
Published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) in May, the guidance recommended that officers selected to conduct “intimate searches” should be of “the same biological sex as the person being searched”.
In practice, this means trans female suspects would be searched by cisgender men, and trans men would be searched by cisgender women. The NPCC said there could be “limited exceptions” in certain cases.
But The Network for Police Monitoring, known as Netpol, has warned that the guidance would only deepen “systemic injustice” against transgender people.
The interim guidance “leaves trans and non-binary people in fear of being assaulted by police during routine searches”, and “opens the door to abuse”, Netpol’s Kat Hobbs claimed.
“We already know that LGBTQ+ people are at greater risk of police violence but making it harder for people to have their gender respected while in custody deepens this systemic injustice.”
A clause in the guidance that allows trans people to request an officer consistent with their “lived gender” gives suspects a level of protection but the exception requires the prior written consent of the authorising officer, the person being detained and the officer conducting the search.
The request must be made within a “reasonable time” and can be refused if the risk is “deemed too great”.
Transgender suspects can also ask for a trans officer of the same or similar gender identity to perform the search if one is available.
The watchdog criticised a set of clauses which allowed officers to refuse to strip-search trans suspects without any resulting “career detriment to the officer or member of staff”.
Hobbs said the guidance appeared to be “more concerned with assuring police officers won’t suffer any career setbacks” should they refuse to search a suspect, rather than “safeguarding LGBTQ+ people in police custody”.
The NPCC published its interim guidance as part a review into its gender-related policies after the UK Supreme Court ruled that the 2010 Equality Act’s definitions of “sex” and “women” referred to “biological sex” and “biological women”.
NPCC chairman chief constable Gavin Stephens said the aim was to “implement the Supreme Court judgement in a pragmatic and consistent way” across its policies.
“We have moved at pace to develop this interim guidance, as it is important that officers and staff have guidance on how searches should be conducted in light of the Supreme Court ruling,” he said. “We are keen to work with the Home Office to consider the impact of the decision on legislation and help ensure there is consistency and clarity for policing and our partners.”
The NPCC was aware of the “depth of feeling” regarding the court ruling and its implications, he went on to say, and the council “remains committed to treating everyone with fairness, dignity and respect”.
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