A Radical Feminist Analysis of ‘Body Searching’ in English Prisons for Women

• In Event: The (Stalled) Gender Revolution in Incarceration Contexts

Abstract

Practices of ‘body searching’ in English prisons include rub down searches, strip searches, intimate searches, and the use of ‘searching equipment’ to assist during searches. Of the small pool of literature concerning women’s body searching in prisons, the majority focuses upon the practice of strip searching, and originates from Northern Ireland (Aretxaga, 2001) and Australia (George, 1993; Pereira, 2001). Although practices of body searching, namely strip searches, are condemned by academics and activists, wider practices of body searching, such as the use of rub down searches and searching equipment, have not been critically analysed within academic thought. Reflecting upon the lacuna in research concerning body searching practices, my PhD research utilises a radical feminist framework to understand the function and impacts of body searching for women who have experienced such practices. From data collected via narrative interviews with women who have experienced body searching, my preliminary findings suggest that women find the practice degrading, humiliating and embarrassing. Furthermore, for women with histories of sexual abuse and trauma, they feel re-traumatised and re-live their past abuse both during and after the search. Thus, this paper will outline how my research is conducted theoretically and methodologically, and will disseminate my preliminary findings.

Author

• Amy Elizabeth Stanley, Liverpool University