Karim al-Banna was arrested after calling police during a dispute with neighbors
Karim al-Banna was arrested after calling police during a dispute with neighborsReuters

Egyptian authorities are using sexual assault on a 'massive' scale against detainees, NGO the International Federation for Human Rights said Tuesday. 

The report suggested that men, women, and children are being abused systemically to "eliminate public protest," according to the BBC

Charges state that police, intelligence officers, and the military are subjecting prisoners to "virginity tests" and rape as they await trial. Students, human rights activists, homosexuals, and children are the most common victims, it said. 

Egypt has refused to respond to the allegations until it sees a copy of the report. 

The issue of sexual harassment in Egypt has become front and center over the past several years, after foreign journalists were sexually assaulted in the 2011 Tahrir Square protests, causing local and worldwide outrage. 

In 2013, Thomson-Reuters research found that Egypt has the worst track record in the Arab world for violence against women. 

An additional study by the United Nations, which interviewed hundreds of women across Egypt, revealed that more than 99% of women there had experienced some form of sexual harassment, ranging from minor incidents to rape. 

Sexual harassment was not criminalized in Egypt, however, until June 2014

Sarah Leah Lawent contributed to this report