The Gendered, Misogynoiristic, and Colonial Genocidal Logics of Strip Searching

Women with lived experience of strip searching have been calling for it to be banned as a practice for decades; however, it remains a routine practice in carceral settings such as prisons and jails. Given the mass incarceration of Indigenous women and disproportionate rate of Black women in federal prisons in Canada, an anti-racist and gendered anticolonial analysis of strip searching is warranted. Thus, this paper shares findings from conversations with 23 previously incarcerated women, the majority of whom are Black and Indigenous, about their experiences of being strip searched in prisons. The main theme throughout the conversations was that strip searching is sexual violence by the state. Furthermore, the harms of strip searching are gendered in that women are forced to remove their tampons and pads during menstruation to show guards. The paper also elucidates the ways in which strip searching enacts misogynoiristic and colonial genocidal logics historically rooted in projects such as Indian Residential Schools and the enslavement of Black women. It ends with a call for abolition feminist social work praxis by meeting the direct needs of women who are strip searched while also advocating for it to be banned as a practice.