When a strip search becomes sexual assault

How we overlook #MeToo and #TimesUp in prison

Alexandra Sahara

and

kate

Mar 08, 2021

A 4 minute read

☕ Coffee for pitches ☕

GUIDING QUESTION

Are strip searches sexual assault? And if they are, do we lose the right to argue about it once we’re arrested?

THE TEASER

Chances are you probably never experienced a strip search outside of TV… and it’s objectively pretty weird to watch.

In some shows, it can be a completely innocuous part of an inmate's day, and in others, it represents heartstopping fear, powerlessness, and a retriggering of past abuse.

Considering how prescient issues of sexual assault have become in the era of #MeToo, it’s worth a deeper look into how and why strip searches exist—and why there is so little we can do to fix them.

To preface this pitch, let’s establish some facts.

It’s probably not shocking to learn that human rights are, to put it lightly, a subject of debate in prisons.
We generally understand that we lose certain freedoms in prison, like the freedom to move around at our own discretion. But we don’t lose everything.
In the U.S. we tend to agree that punishment shouldn’t be ‘cruel and unusual,’ which includes conditions of incarceration.

But the practice of strip-searching—which occurs both inside and out of prison—looks shockingly close to sexual abuse.

The Basics

What is a strip search and why do we have them? Turns out, even that is up for debate.

It comes down to context. Different people in different scenarios think strip searches can be... you guessed it… different.

*Cough cough*

Can you see how being vague is going to be a problem?

Legally strip searches are how law enforcement can search your person when, under *key words here* “reasonable suspicion,” they suspect you have contraband like drugs or weapons. This can apply even before you’ve had a trial or are found guilty of anything.

These searches can go as far as to strip you totally naked, begin probing body parts, cavities, and creases, and can happen to children.

The Problem

When does a strip search cross the line?

Let’s address the emotionally triggering answer first.

This is the one that ties strip searches and sexual assault together in a neat little bow.

Studies have established time and again that strip searches are functionally extremely similar to sexual assault. Why?

a) You can’t say no because you’re worried about retaliation.

b) The indignity and feelings of humiliation are the same, often retriggering prior sexual victimization.

c) You have little to no recourse to prove that the search was unnecessary, which is essentially your only defense.

In some cases, you might win, like in Henry v. Hulett—but not necessarily because of how extreme guards behaved. In this case, some women even suffered seizures from the stress. Rather, the issue is what the standard of “reasonable” is in order to conduct the search in the first place.

But there's also a complicated legal answer.

You can dive deep into case law all day here, but the short and sweet of it is this:

All people have an 8th Amendment right to not be subject to cruel and unusual punishment. Harassment and exceptional hardship are included in that.

The challenge is that you have to be able to prove harm, which can be tough when you’re mostly arguing about the psychological trauma that comes with strip searches.
All people have a 4th Amendment right to privacy and unwarranted search, which includes your body.

Unfortunately, once you’re in prison, you lose some of those rights to privacy, but you do still have some rights when it comes to your person. They’re just exceptionally vague and established on a pretty case by case basis after you’ve experienced trauma, and under the huge assumption you reported the search in the first place.

Fast Forward:

Why is this still happening?

The simple answer? Because the courts tend to default to trusting law enforcement, which might be fine in some cases but can go to a shocking extreme.

As of 2013, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that new inmates can be subject to strip searches, even when there is no suspicion that an individual is hiding contraband. This applies to anyone arrested for a crime, including minor infractions like a traffic violation.

This means that it’ll take countless more cases, and ultimately, unnecessary trauma, before the courts even face the possibility of addressing the issue of prison reform again.

WHY THIS STORY IS WORTH IT

#MeToo and #TimesUp is a worthy movement bringing conversations about sexual assault into public view, but the experiences of people in prison, and women especially, are often overlooked. The connection between strip searches and sexual assault is too great an issue to be left out of such a cultural flashpoint.

PEOPLE WORTH INTERVIEWING

Margo Schlanger who wrote Jail Strip-Search Cases: Patterns and Participants
Corey Devon Arthur wrote about his personal experiences being strip-searched over 1,000 times over nearly 30 years.

WHAT WE DON’T HAVE ANSWERS TO

Note to self: Trust your gut when someone isn’t telling you something.

This is a particularly tough story to cover, mainly because law enforcement and prison agencies don’t share information willingly. In fact, they got sued over it (and lost). Expect that covering both sides of this issue might be tough if all you get is a standard PR statement from prisons.

WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE WIRE

Want another pitch in time for your next meeting?

Know someone who’d love this pitch?

Publishing this story? See a correction? Got a tip? Tell us and we’ll publish it!

Disclaimer: We love these ideas, but they are not fully fleshed-out stories. These are pitches intended as a starting point for other journalists to investigate further and as such, require more interviewing, analysis, and fact-checking before they can be considered full articles. If you’d like to learn more about our pitch process and what goes into Case By Case (and what doesn’t), please check out our FAQ.

Case by Case

Discussion about this post