Cops Illegally Strip-Searched Thousands of Festival-Goers: Suit

Police in Australia have admitted to illegally strip-searching a young woman whose lawyer describes her experience as "akin to a sexual assault." Raya Meredith is the lead plaintiff of a class-action lawsuit alleging widespread unlawful strip searches in New South Wales between 2016 and 2022. She was at a Byron Bay music festival in 2018 when NSW Police ordered her to strip naked, bend over, and remove a tampon. Police denied the account for two years before the state admitted to the unlawful action in court, reports ABC Australia. At a court hearing on Monday, Meredith's lawyer said her client had been subjected to "assault, battery and false imprisonment" simply because a drug dog sniffed in her direction.

"She was not asked for her consent," said the lawyer, Kylie Nomchong. "She was asked to strip, expose all parts of her body, drop her breasts, bend over and expose her anus and vagina," Nomchong said, adding the 30-minute strip search performed by a female officer was "not done in private." She said Meredith was bending over naked in a makeshift cubicle when a male police officer walked in unannounced. No drugs were found on her person. "This is an extraordinary story, but it is not an isolated one," Nomchong continued. "There were many thousands of persons stripsearched at festivals in the claim period." More than 3,000 people have signed on to the lawsuit, though "the affected cohort could be more than twice as large," the Guardian reports.

Nomchong argues strip searches became "a matter of routine" at music festivals between 2016 and 2022 though rules established by parliament stated they were to be used only "in the most extreme of circumstances" and with consent. The government only acknowledges the illegal search of Meredith. It continues to dispute the claims from thousands of other plaintiffs, per News.com.au. Some say they were interrogated during searches, which the rules do not allow. Others allege strip searches involving children. The suit alleges the state failed to adequately train officers. If punitive damages are awarded, total damages could reach $150 million, a lawyer for the state said, per the Guardian. (More strip search stories.)