Body cavity search

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (December 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (August 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A body cavity search, also known simply as a cavity search, is either a visual search or a manual internal inspection of

. Often the procedure is repeated when the person leaves the institution.

Body cavity searches may also be conducted at some international border crossings such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection when they suspect international travelers of hiding contraband—such as drugs.^[1]

Many articles of contraband are concealable in the body's cavities, via means such as insertion into the

, such as in the nasal passages or underneath the tongue.

In a thorough visual body cavity search, a

is required to cooperate with manipulating these body parts as they are examined.

Squatting is sometimes instructed during the visual search, and prolonged holding of a squat can be demanded; squats are sometimes demanded while standing over a mirror (so that the observer has an improved view). The person may be asked to “squat and cough,” with the aim of dislodging an object stored in the rectum or vagina.^[2]

During manual body cavity searches, an inmate is temporarily transferred to an offsite clinic to be examined by a licensed physician of the same sex; body orifices are probed using fingers or instruments. The circumstances in which these inspections may be done are often restricted, such as on individuals refusing to offer to consent to a visual body cavity search for reasons other than anxiety or in situations where there is a strong evidence to suspect the presence of contraband, and require a court order.

As cavity searches have proven as an ineffective strategy in the total prevention of smuggling objects as it cannot detect objects in the intestines or stomach, as well as taking into consideration the intrusive nature and inherently humiliating or degrading procedure, it has become fairly normal for authorities to instead isolate individuals in a monitored environment until they pass excreta and/or x-ray the individual's pelvic area as it is less invasive and psychologically damaging.

Some inmates and human rights activists argue that body cavity searches are done not so much to stop the flow of contraband but rather to harass and humiliate detainees. A visual inspection of the rectum will not reveal objects concealed deeply inside. Likewise, it is possible to circumvent detection during manual body cavity searches. In some instances, suspects swallow packages of drugs protected by condoms and allow them to pass through their

will reveal the concealed contraband, invalidating the body cavity search.

Because these searches are highly invasive and greatly compromise an individual’s right of privacy, the legality of visual and manual body cavity searches is frequently contested.

In the United States, Bell v. Wolfish is the benchmark case on this issue. In its judgment of the case, the U.S. Supreme Court established a standard of reasonable grounds for performing cavity searches. Among these are security concerns at prisons. Such searches are generally governed by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits searches without probable cause.^[3]

In the UK, cavity searches are not carried out upon entry to prisons, although new prisoners are required to perform squats as part of their strip-search. Though said prisoners may be visually searched, prison staff do not have the power to carry out cavity searches.^[4]

The body cavity search is frequently used as a

in this regard.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to body cavity search.

• Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559 (1979) [1]
• Gochnauer, Myron (1985). "Necessity and Prisoners' Rights."". New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement. 10: 27–43.
• Kalinich, David B.; Stojkovic, Stan (1985). "Contraband: The Basis for Legitimate Power in a Prison Social System". Criminal Justice and Behavior. 12 (4): 435–451.
  S2CID 220590141
  .
• Lerner, Jimmy (2002). You Got Nothing Coming: Notes From a Prison Fish. New York: Broadway Books.