Woman ‘treated like piece of meat’ and faced ‘degrading’ strip search by police
'The only reason they did what they did was to degrade me… If I was a man, I don't think they would've done it. I was treated like a piece of meat.'
A scathing report investigating Greater Manchester Police found that several women had been unlawfully arrested and strip searched.
The review, commissioned by city mayor Andy Burnham, saw Dame Vera Baird interview 15 women and men who had complained about the way they had been treated by the force.
The mayor ordered the report following a major Sky News investigation, published last summer, which detailed horrific allegations against Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Maria*, a victim of domestic abuse, was strip searched after a vape fell from her trouser pocket while being arrested, with the custody officer accusing her of ‘concealing’ items.
Before her arrest, when she was perfectly free to leave, she was prevented from leaving the police yard by an officer who pulled her back in.
When picking up herbag from the ground, crying helplessly, the officer marched up to her and wrenched the bag from her, yelling ‘I’ve just been told that you’re a problem drinker’ – a moment described by Dame Vera as ‘nasty’.
The investigation found the strip search custody record doesn’t refer to the power under which it was carried out – but Maria is in no doubt.
‘The only reason they did what they did was to degrade me… If I was a
man, I don’t think they would’ve done it. I was treated like a piece of meat,’ she said.
Another woman, Sophie*, was arrested at 3.17am for allegedly damaging her ex-partner’s wing mirror.
This is despite her ex partner being arrested two months earlier for trying to strangle her. She reported him because she thought he would kill her.
She spent 16 hours in custody, and despite telling arresting officers that she had been heavily bleeding due to a medical issue, she was not provided with her medication or sanitary items promptly, leaving her in blood-soaked clothes.
The report found her arrest was unlawful because Sophie’s ex-partner likely only made the report about his wingmirror to try and exert his control over her using the police and courts.
The arrest also wasn’t considered prompt or necessary, considering the report had been made up to 15 months after the ex-partner’s wingmirror was allegedly damaged.
Discussing Sophie’s case, Dame Vera said: ‘There are some strong links between Sophie’s experience and other domestic abuse cases in this Inquiry, and her case has made a significant contribution to my final recommendations about improving how female victims are understood and how their reactions to abuse should not be misunderstood.
‘Some understanding of the effects of trauma will be an important part of that.
‘I am very critical of this arrest. I am recommending refresher training about understanding that arrests must be necessary in order to be lawful and that it is important to look for less intrusive alternatives to arrest as part of that process.’
Other concerning experiences in GMP custody
One woman asked for toilet paper so she could use the toilet after being in custody for an hour. By the time it was brought to her, more than an hour had passed since she requested it, and she’d had to use her jumper to wipe herself clean.
Failure to respond to (sometimes urgent) requests for sanitary protection was a ‘systemic issue’.
A police officer accused a woman of discouraging child victims of potential sex abuse from speaking with the police. When the woman complained to GMP about this, the same officer phoned her back to say they would be investigating the complaint against themselves.
When arresting a woman, an officer told her: ‘Now [name], we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.’ They then called her a ‘knob head’ and told her she was ‘boring’.
A physically disabled woman was ‘humiliated’ when she was forced to walk up the street after arrest to get into a police van – only to find out she was physically unable to climb into the van, meaning she was walked back down the street again to get into another police car.
A vulnerable woman said she had mental health problems and might attempt suicide if she was locked into a cell. The custody officer said they would put her in handcuffs and leg irons so she couldn’t do that.
One woman was left in ripped pyjama shorts after her arrest and was worried her vagina was visible. She was taken out of her cell to see her solicitor who immediately told police to get her some new clothes. The report says: ‘It is unclear why [name] was taken across the semi-public custody area to see the solicitor in shorts that were so unacceptable that the solicitor immediately demanded that she be given other clothes.’
One arrested woman was shocked when a custody officer waved a box of diazepan through the hatch of the cell door, under the assumption that she is a drug user. The report says: ‘I am told that this frequently happens to people who have been arrested while under the influence of drugs and it is an unacceptable taunt. Custody is not an opportunity for police officers to demean people.’
GMP says it has apologised and accepted the recommendations made in the inquiry.
A spokesperson added: ‘While some improvements to address Dame Vera’s recommendations have already been made, we fully acknowledge there is much more to do around the cultural practice of strip-search, particularly for welfare purposes.
‘We welcome an opportunity to work with national policing leads to accelerate our intention to cease strip-searches for welfare reasons, and to improve clarity and scrutiny around the grounds of a strip-search.
‘It is also vital we continue to gain the trust and confidence of survivors and we are committed to ensuring all our officers have better trauma-informed training to ensure the most appropriate response is given to those who are vulnerable and need our care.
‘We understand the shock and concern of many who will have seen the media coverage that prompted the commissioning of this report by the Mayor of Greater Manchester last year.
‘We have fully engaged with Dame Vera’s report and continue to provide all requested and available materials in relation to ongoing investigations relating to the inquiry.’
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