Young woman's strip search at festival akin to 'sexual assault', court toldBy Sarah GerathyTopic:Courts3h ago3 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 2:45amNSW Police officers strip searched those attending the festival. (ABC News: Ethan RIx)In short:A class action against police strip searching people at music festivals is underway in NSW.The young woman leading the class action had her experience described by a lawyer as "akin to a sexual assault".The lawyer also claimed that the state failed to adequately train officers on the strict rules surrounding strip searches.abc.net.au/news/young-woman-strip-search-sexual-assault-court-nsw-police/105253220Link copiedShareShare articleThe young woman leading a class action over strip searches was subjected to a "degrading and humiliating" experience "akin to a sexual assault" by NSW Police at a music festival in 2018, a court has heard.WARNING: This article contains graphic content.Last month, the state of NSW made a dramatic backflip in the case, admitting police acted unlawfully when they searched Raya Meredith at the Splendour In The Grass music festival, ordering her to bend over while naked and remove a tampon.Her barrister Kylie Nomchong SC on Monday told the hearing her client would be making an additional claim for aggravated damages due to feelings of "hurt and distress" caused by police previously denying her account for more than two years.Kylie Nomchong SC said Raya Meredith was searched based on a drug dog sniffing in her direction. (AAP: Regi Varghese)Ms Nomchong told the court her client was subjected to "assault, battery and false imprisonment" during the search, and the only basis for it had been a drug dog "sniffing in [Ms Meredith's] direction".She said police did not follow the statutory safeguards that NSW parliament had put in place around strip searches."She was not asked for her consent, she was questioned during the search, the search was not done in private," Ms Nomchong said."She was asked to strip, expose all parts of her body, drop her breasts, bend over and expose her anus and vagina."We say these things are akin to things that would happen during a sexual assault."'Not an isolated' incidentMs Nomchong said that when Ms Meredith was following commands to bend over, "a male police officer walked into the cubicle unannounced and observed the plaintiff in this position".No drugs were found during the search and Ms Nomchong said Ms Meredith was left traumatised.She outlined the broader ramifications of the class action, which is believed to be one of the biggest ever brought against NSW Police."This is an extraordinary story, but it is not an isolated one," she said."There were many thousands of persons strip searched at festivals in the claim period," she said.Indigenous and diverse communities disproportionately searched in NSWPhoto shows A photo of a man with a beard.New data obtained by the ABC has found First Nations and diverse communities were disproportionately represented in New South Wales police searches between 2020 and 2023.Ms Nomchong said the state of NSW had failed to adequately train officers on strict rules that surround strip searches, and then deployed large numbers of police to music festivals between 2016 and 2022 knowing and expecting a large number of searches would be conducted.She said the parliament had made it clear strip searches were only supposed to be used "in the most extreme of circumstances" but that was not the way they were being executed by NSW Police."We say there was a pattern of conduct of NSW Police carrying out strip searches at music festivals as a matter of routine," she said.Posted 3h ago3 hours agoMon 5 May 2025 at 2:45am, updated 30m ago30 minutes agoMon 5 May 2025 at 5:43amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesLiberals closing gap in Goldstein, Bradfield as postal votes favour CoalitionLIVEPhoto shows Zoe Daniel looks into the distance at a press conference at Parliament HouseAlbanese says he received 'very warm' phone call from Donald TrumpTopic:Foreign AffairsPhoto shows a middle-aged man wearing glasses pointing'Laughable policies': Voters explain what went wrong for CoalitionTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows A young coupleNationals MPs '100 per cent' back nuclear being kept as Coalition dissects lossTopic:Federal GovernmentPhoto shows A man in a shirt and hat.Albanese to 'slow the pace' as factions jostle over cabinet reshuffleTopic:Federal GovernmentPhoto shows Albanese, at a press conference, raises his hands while speaking.Related stories'Humiliating process': NSW Police strip searched more than 4,500 people during COVID lockdownsTopic:PolicePhoto shows the back of a NSW Police officer's head showing his police capMusic festival-goers urged to brush up on rights after 'real problems' found with police strip searchesTopic:PolicePhoto shows A woman with her hand up in a crowd at a musical festival. 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