RECOMMENDATION 4
Prohibit police sexual contact with civilians
Recommendation
States and law enforcement agencies should prohibit all sexual contact between police officers and people under their control or custody.
Rationale
In 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), capping a long-running campaign to eliminate rape and sexual abuse in federal, state, and local correctional facilities.⁷⁸ PREA established sexual assault and abuse reporting guidelines and mandates, provided funding for data collection, and created safety recommendations and guidance to ensure that sexual assault prevention measures are not undercut by limited local or annual budgets. Under PREA, all sexual contact between correctional staff and people in correctional custody is prohibited and cannot be deemed “consensual” by either party.
But PREA mandates only cover correctional facilities and do not extend to a person’s time under police control or custody, leading to a “consent loophole” permitting law enforcement officers to claim that sexual contact with someone in their custody was consensual. Allowing such an argument from officers fails to recognize, as PREA does, the power imbalance between officers and those in custody. This gap is particularly harmful for women, who are disproportionately represented among victims of custodial sexual misconduct and often have prior histories of sexual abuse that make them especially vulnerable to coercion.⁷⁹
While there are limited data on both the prevalence of sexual assault in law enforcement custody and the use of consent as a defense, there have been substantiated accounts and journalistic coverage.⁸⁰ In a study of roughly 900 women in four major cities in the eastern U.S., about 30 women (3%) reported experiencing sexual violence from a police officer, with higher rates among non-White women.⁸¹ Additionally, in a study of about 550 cases where police officers were arrested for engaging in sexual crimes, more than half involved sexual misconduct while the officer was on duty.⁸²
While many police officers uphold the highest standards of conduct, a clear prohibition on sexual contact with people under their control or custody protects both the public and the profession.
Many states and the federal government have taken action to close this legal loophole. In 2022, Congress enacted the Closing the Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act as part of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act.⁸³ The law created a new offense prohibiting federal law enforcement officers from engaging in sexual acts with people in custody, under supervision, or in detention. Consent cannot be claimed as a defense, and a violation of the law carries a statutory maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison. The act also incentivizes states to pass similar laws to align with federal standards. According to preliminary analysis conducted by the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law, about 15 states had adopted similar legislation as of mid-2025.⁸⁴
On the local level, many law enforcement agencies have adopted internal policies prohibiting officers from sexual contact with those in custody. Organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police and End Violence Against Women International have highlighted the issue and provided guides and model policies to help police departments address officer misconduct.⁸⁵ These models recognize key challenges and opportunities for agencies, including reducing barriers to incident reporting and promoting thorough investigations of all misconduct allegations. But it is unclear how many agencies have adopted these internal policies and whether they have been carefully implemented.
While many police officers uphold the highest standards of conduct, a clear prohibition on sexual contact with people under their control or custody protects both the public and the profession.
Implementation Steps
1
State legislatures that have not already done so should pass laws in accordance with the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022. Specifically, the legislation should:
- Make it “a criminal offense for any person acting under the color of [State] law … to knowingly engage in a sexual act with an individual who is under arrest, in detention, or otherwise in the actual custody of any law enforcement officer;” and
- Prohibit the use of consent as a defense to such an offense.
2
Congress should appropriate sufficient funds to implement section 1203 of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, which authorizes the Department of Justice to provide incentive grants to states that have passed laws in accordance with the Closing the Law Enforcement Consent Loophole Act of 2022.
3
States should establish standards of care for detained victims of police sexual assault, including the immediate removal of the victim from the custody of the accused officer as well as physical and mental healthcare.
4
Law enforcement agencies should:
- Adopt written policies establishing a zero-tolerance standard for sexual contact with individuals in custody, to include a specific process for investigating and responding to allegations.
- Design and implement strategies for training personnel on updated sexual misconduct policies and professional boundaries. These strategies may include required engagement with resources, as well as additional curriculum implemented through existing law enforcement training programs (e.g., basic academy and Field Training Officer programs).
- Use the National Decertification Index, a centralized repository of state and local officer misconduct or decertification records, as part of pre-employment screenings for job candidates. The federal government should also reinstate the Justice Department’s database of federal law enforcement officer misconduct records and facilitate its usage by state and local law enforcement agencies.
5
The federal government should appropriate sufficient resources to support law enforcement agencies in coming into compliance with PREA standards in temporary holding facilities.
Data Gaps and Opportunities
Data on the following indicators, disaggregated by sex and race, are critical to understanding and prohibiting all sexual contact between law enforcement officers and people in their custody:
- Allegations and substantiated incidents of sexual misconduct and harassment by law enforcement during custody, transport, or questioning
- Time from report to response/resolution, including outcomes
- Charges and convictions pursuant to statutes criminalizing officer sexual contact with individuals in custody
