Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a London police station in solidarity with a Black teenager who was strip-searched by officers while on her period after being falsely accused of drug possession.
Crowds gathered outside the Stoke Newington Police Station in north London on Friday afternoon to protest the treatment of a schoolgirl known as Child Q.
The 15-year-old student was forced to comply with a cavity search by Metropolitan Police officers in 2020 after teachers at a Hackney secondary school summoned the force.
According to a safeguarding report, she was strip-searched by officers who knew she was menstruating after teachers suspected the girl was in possession of cannabis.
The mother of Child Q was not informed of the search, and teachers remained outside the room while it took place. This came just weeks after the teen was falsely accused of drug possession by staff and threatened with expulsion.
The adolescent and her family have now filed a civil suit against the police department and her high school, according to the law firm Bhatt Murphy, which announced the action on Friday.
Protesters gathered at the police station on Friday chanted “no justice, no peace, abolish the police” and “racist cops, get out of schools.”
Ngozi Fulani, founder of Sistah Space and a spokesperson for activist group Forever Family, Denise Henry, co-founder of National Education Union Black Educators Network, and Chatelle Lunt, a former Black police officer and founder of Merseyside BLM Alliance, were among the speakers who addressed the crowd. Politicians in attendance included local MP Diane Abbott and Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality Party.
A few students who said they went to the same school where the search was held spoke up, as did the children of some campaigners who came to show their support. “We will all stand together to stop racism,” said one five-year-old girl.
“You’re just going to take a 15-year-old girl’s dignity away like that and nothing will happen?” This is a problem. “And where are these cops now – they’re still at work, still getting paid,” anti-knife campaigner Faron Alex Paul told the crowd.
“We can be angry, but dealing with these people will require persistence and organisation.” We live in England, which is a blatantly racist country. We’re rioting one minute, George Floyd, and then it’s quiet the next. Then do this.”
Mr Paul continued, gesturing up at two police officers on the station’s top floor who were observing the protest: “Keep your foot on the gas people; officers are looking at us now thinking ‘don’t worry, they’ll be gone by tomorrow.'”
One former educator stated that she became a teacher in the 1990s expecting to attend her students’ weddings and graduations, but instead she goes to prison visits and attends the funerals of Black boys who are ex-students.
Speaking to the audience, a mother urged parents to always advocate for their children, especially at school. “We need to put ourselves in those schools and stop allowing these teachers to parent our children because they aren’t their parents – we are,” she said. “When our children complain, mothers must go in and confront that teacher.”
People in the crowd also held signs that read “no to racist cops, justice for Child Q,” “we say no to cops in schools,” and “Black Lives Matter” banners. Outside the station, they also chanted “shame on you.”
A teacher told the audience that she hasn’t been in the classroom in three years because she refuses to be a “agent of state violence,” adding that academies grant autonomy to “act as agents of the police.”
Jermaine Jackman, an activist and singer, told The Independent after the protest, “There’s a lot of anger in the air.” There’s a lot of rage at protests, but this one was especially rooted in disgust and disbelief that we’re back. I’m exhausted. We have every right to be enraged. We have a legitimate reason to be here.”
Mr. Jackman, who is also the chair of Black Men 4 Change, added, “This is two years ago, and the review is only now coming out – that’s not justice.” That’s just shedding light on the situation; when will the family receive justice, and when will our community heal?
“Today was a day to express anger, learn, gather information, and stand in solidarity with one another, saying ‘enough is enough.'” However, we must follow this up with change and action.”
Adam Pugh, a former Met Police officer who left the force in 2014 due to racism concerns, was also present and told The Independent: “Everything about this case is disturbing to me.”
“At what point do we just say enough is enough?” It’s been violation after violation over the last two years, from the (handling of) pandemic and Sarah Everard to Met Police officers taking selfies with the dead bodies of Black women Nicola Smallman and Bibaa Henry.
“You cannot reform the police; they must be abolished, and the money spent on policing should be redirected back into communities.” The safest communities in London aren’t the ones with the most cops; they’re the ones with the most resources. We’re always hearing about bad apples; how many more do we need to hear about? “It doesn’t matter how many good apples are in the apple cart because the whole thing is rotten.”
The case of Child Q has sparked national outrage, with London mayor Sadiq Khan expressing “dismay and disgust” and campaigner Patrick Vernon describing the incident as “state rape.” Protests are planned in London, Glasgow, and Cardiff over the weekend ahead of the UN Anti-Racism Day on March 21.