SEX workers have demanded police take action against bent junior officers they accuse of demanding sex or payments in exchange for freedom from arrest in a practice said to be rampant cross the country.
ZRP national spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena said the police would thoroughly examine the allegations adding disciplinary action would be taken against those responsible.
“We do not condone such behaviour in the police force and if we have such rogue elements in the system, they will be weeded out,” Bvudzijena told state-run weekly newspaper.
“Investigations will be carried out in urban areas countrywide because soliciting for sex from those people they should arrest is unacceptable.”
Prostitutes around the country claim that junior officers on night patrols were targeting them at night clubs and other red-light areas.
The officers allegedly demand spot fines of up to US$10 or sex in exchange for freedom from arrest.
Although still illegal, prostitution is still rife across the country.
Sex workers interviewed by the Sunday News at a Bulawayo drop-in centre claimed they were being sexually abused by police officers.
They added that payments to bent cops were also eating into their meager earnings.
Bvudzijena urged the victims to report the abuse and identify the responsible officers.
“The police force has a code of conduct and such practices are a form of corruption. Disciplinary action will be taken against those found on the wrong side of the law,” he said.
“Those ladies of the night should take down the officers’ force numbers and report them because such behaviour is not allowed in the system,” he said.