Female Drug Offenders Report Police Sexual Misconduct

An estimated 1.3 million American women were incarcerated or under correctional supervision in 2009, up from 600,000 in 1990, the MedicalXpress reports. In the St. Louis area, a study of surveys completed by female drug offenders, showed that one-quarter report experiencing police sexual misconduct.

The study included 318 women who were on probation or parole for a non-violent offense. One-quarter of women said they had a lifetime history of police sexual misconduct and 96 percent said they had sex with an officer who was on duty. Shockingly, 24 percent of the women claimed they had sex with an officer in the presence of the officer’s partner or another officer.

“It’s important that the police force acknowledges that sexual misconduct may exist among the force, so that it can be stopped and eventually prevented,” lead investigator Linda B. Cottler of the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, said in a news release.

What’s more, 54 percent of the women said the officer offered to throw out the arrest in exchange for sex, with 87 percent stating officers kept their promises. A third of the women viewed what the officers did as a form of rape.

The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health.