We must demand the province of Ontario take action now to ensure prisoners have dignity

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Imagine being forced to remove your clothes in front of people you do not know, being told that you have to stand with your legs apart, bend over and spread your bottom cheeks all in full view of prison guards. You are already feeling pretty degraded, and this has taken your degradation to a whole new level.

We now know that even though Black people make up around 10% of the city’s population—one in every three people who have been strip-searched are Black. Nearly a third of all Indigenous people who have been arrested are strip-searched.

In its 2019 Report, “Breaking the Golden Rule: A Review of Police Strip Searches in Ontario,” the Ontario Independent Police Review Director, an independent police watchdog, found that police in Ontario conduct “too many” unjustified and illegal strip searches. Not only does strip searching evoke racial and sexual trauma, it’s also ineffective.

Strip searches are often considered intrusive and potentially degrading because they involve the inspection of a person’s naked body, which can be a highly personal and sensitive experience. These searches are typically conducted in situations where there is a perceived need for security or safety, such as: in prisons, detention facilities, or at certain security checkpoints, like airports. While they may be deemed necessary in certain circumstances to prevent contraband or dangerous items from being smuggled, they should be carried out with utmost respect for the individual’s dignity and privacy.

The context in which the strip search is conducted plays a significant role in determining whether it is perceived as degrading. In some situations, such as within a prison, or during an arrest, there may be a legal framework in place to regulate and safeguard the process.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is demanding the Government of Ontario fix significant shortcomings in new regulations concerning strip searches in provincial prisons.

The CCLA and an individual who has been forced to endure strip searches launched a lawsuit against the Government of Ontario in 2022 over the unfettered power to strip search prisoners.

“Too many strip searches are taking place in Ontario prisons for no rhyme or reason. These new regulations demonstrate Ontario recognizes it cannot strip search everyone, but they will not stop the severe harm of excessive and unnecessary strip searches,” said Shakir Rahim, Director of Criminal Justice for the CCLA.

“Far fewer strip searches would take place if body scanners were recognized as an alternative and prisons were properly outfitted with them. It is shameful that the Ontario government has not taken this common-sense step when the federal government has already done so.”  

The significant shortcomings in the new Ontario regulations include:

• Body scanners are not recognized as an alternative to strip searches.
• Individuals isolated due to a mental health crisis can be strip searched without suspicion they have contraband; these unnecessary strip searches carry a high risk of degrading their health and increasing the risk of suicide.
• Strip searches of entire groups of prisoners are permitted on a lower standard, with no limit to how many people can be searched and other essential safeguards.
• Permitted strip search methods are unnecessarily traumatic, meaning individuals who are sexual assault survivors could be retraumatized.

“The time for Ontario to fix these glaring errors was years ago. We are demanding the province take action now to ensure prisoners have dignity. The woefully inadequate new regulations mean the violence of unnecessary strip searches will continue.”

It’s important for any strip search to be conducted in a respectful and lawful manner, with a focus on maintaining the dignity of the individual being searched. Legal safeguards, oversight, and accountability mechanisms should be in place to prevent abuses and ensure that strip searches are used only when absolutely necessary for security or safety purposes.