Women continue to be reportedly tortured and raped by police, soldiers, and other officials in many countries worldwide. In many countries, acts of sexual violence by government agents are a common method of torture or inhuman treatment inflicted on women. Torture in custody is a particularly severe violation of human rights, as the State holds a higher responsibility for people held in custody. The fact that prison officials are generally male, and that women are often detained in male prison facilities, increases the risk of sexual abuse. Political activists and human rights defenders are especially at risk to be tortured in custody.
Research shows that almost all female political prisoners are subjected to sexual torture.
The struggle for justice for these women is extremely difficult. Victims often fear that their complaints will not hold against the denials of the perpetrators, or that they will be attacked again if they proceed with their complaint. In 2000, NGOs documented cases of sexual torture in at least 20 countries, from Bangladesh to the USA, but in most cases the abuses were not even investigated by the authorities. In almost every armed conflict in the last century, women have been singled out for torture and subjected to sexual violence by members of armed groups. In some cases, as occurred in the war in the former Yugoslavia between 1991-1995, forced impregnation has been used as a weapon of war to further humiliate the rape victim, by forcing her to bear children of the perpetrator, or 'the enemy'.