Stop the police having strip search powers on victims of sexual abuse

When a female or male suffers sexual abuse often as a child at the hands of an adult it leaves lasting emotional and physical scars that never go away. Then forward to being forced to strip naked and "show" your nudity and genitals to another person and be forcibly pinned down and touched intimately at the hands of a police officer, whether it be female or male, brings feelings of controlling coercive abuse - the very thing that an abuse victim reports to police and runs away from their abuser. Police don't give you a choice and will pin you down and force it onto you no matter how you plead with them not to.

Can you imagine the emotional turmoil? The physical pain? The anxiety? The panic? If you've never felt such feelings then think of the thing you fear worst and multiply by 1000. To the victim this feels like rape, all over again but by multiple perpetrators.

In my eyes this makes the police nothing more than legalised paedophiles or rapists - controlling coercive rapists.

Now, in that situation what do you do next? Lash out at a police officer to stop them and then get arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer? Or worse - 6 officers (as that is how many it took) to force you onto the floor legs spread for all them to see your private genitals. How can this be right in this supposedly civilised society? Or is your next thoughts suicide once you're released back home and you have the torture of legalised rape playing on your mind over and over. How? Why? How have the police been given such powers of control?

Suicide is possibly the next plan of action as now you not only have your past rape constantly on your mind, you also have police rape on your mind. Can you imagine how many rape victims suffer this torture again at the hands of the police? If this were to happen anywhere other than in a police cell you'd be phoning the police for protection ...wait ...YOU'D BE PHONING THE POLICE FOR PROTECTION ... Yes you read that right.

My petition is simple - stop strip and search for rape or sexual abuse victims. There has to be a kinder way, like taking that person to a room with a gender equal nurse where the search could be done in private.

I bet there are many victims of this torture who think nothing will change so they don't bother trying to challenge or complain about the abuse they feel and go home and try or even succeed at suicide. The people's voice has a right to be heard.