Sex worker
There are numerous allegations of members of the South African Police Service committing acts of violence and abuse against sex workers. 70 per cent of sex workers who approached the Women's Legal Centre to report a violation said that they had experienced police abuse in some form, including beating and rape. In an interview, one sex worker in Cape Town said: "The coloured police officer grabbed me, and my clothes came off. Then they pepper sprayed me in my mouth and beat me". Sex workers are often afraid to report police violence to the authorities.