Women groped and violated by police during curfew arrests

In recent years, there have been dozens of examples of officers who had numerous complaints against them of excessive force, harassment or other misconduct. Photo: AP

It was just getting dark when Julia Dupuis was handcuffed on a curfew violation and walked by two Los Angeles police officers to a fence on the side of an empty church, beyond the watchful eye of nearby apartment residents and a good 4.5 metres from the next protester.

"Do you think it's a female?" she heard one of the male cops say to the other, with a laugh. Dupuis, who is gender nonconforming but identifies as a woman, felt paralysed with fear.