POLICE Scotland is under pressure after finally confirming that children have been strip searched in custody.

Twenty-one children had their clothes removed in a single month as part of police investigations. The United Nations definition of a child is a person under 18.

Police operating procedures define a strip search as one that involves the staged removal of all clothing and an external examination of the body.

An officer of at least the rank of sergeant must authorise such a search, which can only be carried out in private by two members of staff of the same sex.

Together – a coalition of children’s rights group – last year published a report that raised questions about children being strip searched by police.

The organisation had asked for how many searches had been carried out over a number of years, but the force could not say on the grounds of cost.

Police Scotland argued that a lack of a Scotland-wide system for logging custodies, which now exists, meant that extracting age data would exceed the cost thresholds under freedom of information law.

On the basis of the United Nations definition of a child, the Sunday Herald submitted detailed questions to the force about strip searches carried out on people aged 17 and under in five police divisions.

In the E and J divisions, which cover Edinburgh, Lothians and the Borders, six 17-year-olds, four 16-year-olds and two 15-year-olds were strip searched in custody in July last year.

For D division, which spans Tayside, four 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds also encountered this policing tactic in the same month.

In V division, two 16-year-olds were strip searched in the main custody suite in Dumfries.

However, the force was unable to provide a figure for A Division – which covers the North East – after concluding that retrieving the information would be an “incredibly time consuming task”.

The figures mean that, in four out of the 13 local police divisions, 21 children and young people were strip searched in the same month.

The divisions only cover a fraction of the country as none include Glasgow or the west of Scotland.

Statutes in Scots law have different definitions of a child. A policing source said 16 and 17 year olds are adults by law unless on a supervision order.

However, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as everyone under 18.

Similarly, the new code of practice on stop and search, which comes into force in May, states: “For the purposes of this code, children and young people are defined as those being under the age of 18.”

The revelations contradict the claim by former police officer Niven Rennie that strip searches of children do not happen north of the border.

On social media last year, he wrote: “I did over 30 years in the police and I can't think of a child ever strip searched.” He also wrote: “Doesn't happen here!”

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur said: “These figures suggest hundreds of children each year are subject to strip searches. These searches can cause children and adults distress so there must be robust safeguards in place to protect them.

“Thanks to the statutory code for police searches, won by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the national force will in future be required to record when a strip search occurs and the circumstances.

“Recording this information and making it available for scrutiny is a sensible step towards reassuring people that the use of strip searches is appropriate and proportionate.”

Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International’s Scotland Programme Director, said: “Children being strip-searched in police custody should only occur in extreme situations such as if they are considered to be an imminent danger to themselves or others. However, these occurrences should be rare enough that Police Scotland ought to be able to record them for the sake of transparency – using the excuse that it is too costly to keep such records is unacceptable.

Tam Baillie, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland said: “A strip search can be a distressing experience for a child or a young person, even when it is carried out in a professional and dignified manner. There needs to be consistent recording of this practice across the whole of Scotland. We need to understand the number of strip-searches involving children and young people and the context in which they take place.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The vast majority of juvenile offenders are dealt with without arrest. Where arrest does takes place, in the main, the offender is taken directly home to parents, guardians or into social work care, as appropriate. Only where the circumstances dictate that this is not possible, are young people taken into custody, and we then carry out a full review of every incident.

"It is very rare for Police Scotland to strip search young people, and is usually done for the protection of the young person and to keep them safe. The new code of practice does not come into force until May 2017, and when it does Police Scotland will record all strip searches."