Sydney woman ordered to remove tampon during strip search outside casino

Current investigations on five controversial strip searches by Australian police revealed how a young woman was asked to remove her tampon by an officer while conducting a strip search outside a casino. This is just among several instances of humiliating and traumatic strip searches that have been uncovered by law enforcement authorities.

The said investigation brought the New South Wales Police to establish Strike Force Blackford in line with The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission which is reviewing reports on the police force after receiving complaints from parents of the women subjected to these degrading strip searches. Some of the women have also started talking to local media about their experiences which has pushed the Commission to investigate these cases of alleged police misconduct. The said strip searches mostly took place at music festivals and have been related to targeting possession of drugs.

The previously mentioned case occurred in January 2019 where two women were strip searched outside a casino and one of them was asked to remove her tampon. Another case was that of a female performer during the Secret Garden Festival. The woman was ordered to bend over after she was made to pull down her underwear while the officers laughed at her. No drugs were found in her possession.

In another music festival, an 18-year-old girl was strip searched and asked to squat and cough without being given an ample amount of privacy. She was detained for an hour and kicked out of the festival with orders not to attend any festival for six months even though they did not find any illegal drugs on her. The parents of the young girl sent a letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian describing their daughter's degrading experience.

Questions are now being fired at police authorities on the legality of their actions bringing forth the lack of clarity on how to conduct a proper strip search as well as poor communication and police misconduct. Strip searches have been deemed a necessary procedure during music festivals because of rampant use of party drugs during these events which has also caused several deaths of young people due to overdose.

Australian law authorises police to do strip searches provided there is a serious, urgent and necessary reason to do so. Strip searches should be done in the least invasive manner whereby it is illegal to search a person's genitals and body cavities. In the case of minors, parents or a guardian must be present during the search unless the situation calls for immediate action to protect the person and to safely secure any possible evidence.

In light of the cases being reviewed, officers of the New South Wales police have been urged to apologise to one of the young women involved in these questionable strip searches while the Commission also confirmed that an officer involved in one of the cases has been suspended from duty.