He was after her from day one.

She'd just joined the police station, fresh from probation. He quizzed her about her sex life, called her mobile when he was off duty. If she didn't answer, he'd call the station line.

He wanted to start a relationship, left unwanted gifts in her locker. A station culture of "sexual banter and innuendo" gave him oxygen and left her intimidated: "I did not know what to do, I felt trapped".

She tried to deflect, told him she had a boyfriend. Some colleagues tried to help, swapping shifts with her to try to get away from him. But he just changed his shifts to mirror hers. What to do? Another woman had spoken out and been labelled "a slut".

Sickened, she told the sergeant she was worried about her safety in the van. He took her off the van roster but made her feel like an idiot, that her concerns were worthless.

One night, after a social event, she got home and thought to herself: "Phew, I made it safety through that". The next thing she knew he was inside the house.

"Things started getting blurry, I was trapped. I couldn't fight, I was unable to move. I am sure I was drugged by him. He raped me."

His stalking and harassment continued and her managers did nothing, despite her pleas for help. One night, the same man offered another young woman a lift home. And the same sergeant encouraged it.

The damning review of sexual harassment and predatory behaviour at Victoria Police is brimming with the powerful testimony of female employees.

Their pain is evident as they describe being hurt and "broken" in their workplace, in a job many initially saw as a calling.

There are ugly examples of serious sexual assaults, including rape. But far more common – part of the same spectrum of gendered violence – are stories of relentless harassment.

The review reveals a toxic culture of male entitlement that damages women, and some men, inside police ranks, and those who work alongside them.

One station is described as a "hunting ground" by a junior female officer. A senior colleague peppers her with invasive questions when they are out in the police car. Is she up for extra-marital sex? Is she the type of girl who would be "cool" with that?

"I felt very uncomfortable. I didn't want to say 'You're a big creep', so I humoured him. I didn't want to be 'that girl' who was 'a bitch' to my colleagues. That stuff follows women around the force: 'She's the one who made a sexual harassment complaint'."

He pulled over in a secluded spot to check for speeding cars, and kept harassing her. "I kept thinking, I am going to get raped in a police car. This is not the ideal start to my career."

Eventually she threatened to [pepper] spray him. She never reported it, believing there were too many men in management and he was well supported.

And it's not just police members. Abby* has worked alongside police in a sex assault crisis service for more than a decade.

She told The Age she has witnessed a litany of sexist, homophobic and racist comments from the very police members supposed to help sexual assault victims.

One male officer told her that young women wearing short or revealing clothes were "asking for it" and that if women did not want to get assaulted they should not "dress like they do".

Abby reported the comments to the station sergeant without identifying the officer, hoping it could be dealt with in a educative way. But he said only that he'd ensure police confined their opinions to their own work area, and dismissed her concerns.

Station posters that promote gay and lesbian pride days have been defaced, she said.

Gay policemen are six times more likely than heterosexual men to be sexually harassed by a colleague, the review found.

"Joining Victoria Police as a gay male, I have been subjected to copious amounts of harassment and abuse," said one man. "Whilst homosexuality is more accepted ... it's [still] the worst in any organisation I've ever worked in."

Any criticism of police culture is minimised Abby said : boys will be boys, they don't mean any harm, they're just letting off steam.

"This culture is about watching each other's back. They work in life-threatening situations so when it comes these attitudes they don't break rank."

Many of the officers in the unit were fantastic, she said,, but they kept their heads down. She was concerned about the behaviours of others and said she thought they felt under threat.

"Change is happening, it's sweeping down from the top, They are fearful of what [it] will mean for them."

Safe Space: 1300 364 522 (A confidential service contracted by Victoria Police).

Centre Against Sexual Assault: 1800 806 292

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