New York, February 12 (RHC)-- A new report says Iraqi authorities are illegally detaining thousands of Iraqi women and subjecting many to torture, rape and threats of sexual abuse.

Human Rights Watch said women reported being kicked, hung upside-down, beaten on their feet, given electric shocks and sexually assaulted during interrogations by security forces.

Sarah Leah Whitson from Human Rights Watch described the findings, telling reporters that there are documented cases of women with evidence of torture and signed confessions. She also said that the human rights organization has talked to judges who themselves have verified being put under pressure to convict women without evidence.