‘End strip search’ call
WOMEN in Tasmanian prisons were subjected to 841 strip searches in the seven months to April this year – with only three items of contraband discovered in that time – new data obtained under Right to Information laws has revealed.
The data, obtained by the national Human Rights Law Centre, reveal that from October last year, officers only discovered one instance of the pain medication Tramadol, one tobacco and lighter and one tobacco and match sticks.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service slammed the state’s practice of routinely strip-searching all prisoners.
“Strip searches are degrading,” CEO Tracey Dillon said.
“There are other means of checking if someone going into or out of jail is carrying anything that may harm or hurt themselves or others. For example, using X-ray machines would ensure both inmates and corrections officers can be protected, and their dignity maintained.”
She said Aboriginal women had been “exposed to this humiliation” for hundreds of years, adding women should only be strip-searched in “exceptional circumstances”.
“The re-traumatising practice of routinely strip-searching women in Tasmanian jails must end,” Ms Dillon said.
Human Rights Law Centre senior lawyer Monique Hurley said the data should be a “wake-up call” for the Tasmanian government.
“It shows that overly broad laws allow for women to be routinely stripped of their dignity without justification,” she said.
“Being subjected to routine stripsearching can be dehumanising and degrading for any person. It is an invasive, humiliating practice that can be particularly re-traumatising for women in prison, many of whom are survivors of trauma, sexual abuse or family violence.”
In its RTI response, the Department of Justice said personal searches were “necessary for the security and good order of any prison”.
“It not only stops potentially harmful items, such as drugs and weapons, entering the prison system, it also reduces the risk of suicide and selfharm,” a spokesman said.
“Tasmania Prison Service staff understand that entering prison, especially for the first time, can be a traumatic event and make every effort to conduct personal searches in a professional and humane manner.”