#Trending: In Australia, A Law Enforcement Report Review Says Many Women Were Aggressively Strip-Searched By Policemen. What A Horrible Misuse Of Authority

#Trending: In Australia, A Law Enforcement Report Review Says Many Women Were Aggressively Strip-Searched By Policemen. What A Horrible Misuse Of Authority

It was only a few months ago that the world was baffled at the police brutality and the systematic oppression taking place in the USA and well, all around the world. Police brutality is a problem everywhere. It’s like they say- with power comes responsibility and I am beginning to think that polices forces are starting to forget about the later half of that proverb. In the last few months, I have heard stories of policemen, drunk on power, stooping as low as rape, murder, extortion, molestation, harassment and a lot more. Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t they supposed to be protecting us from all those crimes? Enforcing the law is not the same thing as bending the law. 

Okay, let me tell you what why I am annoyed right now. Did you know that in Australia, policemen have been found conducted unnecessary strip-searches? They do it in such a way that it puts women in the worst position (in some of the instances, literally!). It’s very disturbing. 

A law enforcement review which one released on Tuesday found that several women had filed complaints against the police for the way they were searched by officers. These instances in question are mainly at music festivals and outside casinos between 2018-2019. 

https://twitter.com/CarolineLiquori/status/1286125841215303680

The author’s of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission report are urging that the Sydney police apologise for the “humiliating” strip-searches that have been conducting. And the New Wales police have said that they will take this report into consideration. 

Let’s look at some of the incidents that occurred leading up to this investigation, shall we? 

In the most shocking incident, two women in January 2019 were strip-searched outside a casino. One of those women was asked to remove her tampon so that they could search her thoroughly. 

Now, this is disgusting. Also, what the hell were they looking for up there? Honestly, this is unacceptable. The policemen involved need to be, at the least, suspended for doing something like this. 

The report states that “An investigation of the complaint found there had been a “lack of clarity for frontline officers regarding the lawfulness of such a request.” I’m sorry, why do they need “clarity” to know that doing something like this is not only unlawful but also breaches the code of what is acceptable?

In another incident, a performer at the Secret Garden Festival was ordered to pull down her underwear and bend over so the officers could conduct a strip-search. According to the report, the woman was then spoken to unprofessionally by the male policemen and laughed at. No illicit drugs were found on her. Although in her letter to Australian politician Gladys Berejiklian, the woman described the whole ordeal as “degrading”. 

In yet another incident in March 2019, a woman was made to cough and squat during Hidden Music Festival. The woman’s mother who filed the complaint said that her daughter was not offered proper privacy during this strip search and she was detained for over an hour. And of course, no illicit drugs were found on her either but she was still barred from the event. 

Also Read: A Female Police Sub-Inspector Was Arrested For Accepting Bribe From A Rape Accused. She Failed Womanhood And Humanity

In most of these incidents, the common pattern is that no drugs are found on the woman. Are such highly invasive strip-searches legal in Australia even though there is obviously no immediate danger? Allegations of aggressive strip-searches by police have caused controversy. 

Despite a new instruction manual being introduced just last August, the review reported that in many instances the police have admitted ignorance of what was permitted during a strip search. What a shocker. 

The Person Search Manual states officers “may, amongst other things, request a person squat, lift their breasts, part their buttock cheeks or turn their body.” But those officers went way ahead than this. I mean asking a woman to pull down her underwear and bend over. Really?!

After doing some research I found that under Australian Law, officers can only carry out such searches when “the seriousness and urgency of the circumstances” deem it absolutely necessary to do so. And considering that these women were not in possession of any drugs nor were they any immediate danger to anyone, I would say what the police officers may have taken more than a few liberties. 

Australian law also says that the searches must be done in the least invasive way possible. Also, it is illegal to search genital areas or body cavities. Huh, so what the police did when they asked that woman to remove her tampon was not only utterly disgusting but illegal, who knew?

The report has outlined some very important points and this is an issue that needs to be addressed. No woman should have to go through this humiliation and misconduct at the hands of people entrusted to protect them. Women are not safe anywhere, not even in the presence of the police.

Just the thought of policemen using such tactics is sickening. If they didn’t know what proper procedure for the strip searches was, did they forget about a little something called decency? 

https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/a-hong-kong-police-officer-kneeled-on-a-16-year-old-girl-protestors-neck-its-all-too-familiar-and-worrying/

Mitali Shah

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