Activists, including prominent women’s rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, were sexually assaulted and tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia prisons, according to a report.

Ms al-Hathloul was among a number of people arrested during a 2018 crackdown on human rights figures by the Saudi authorities.

She has long maintained that she was tortured after her arrest in 2018 with water boarding, electric shocks and threats of rape.

But following her conditional release from detention in February, a Saudi appeals court rejected that claim. However, an anonymous guard who spoke to Human Rights Watch has said she was touched inappropriately and verbally abused.

“Loujain al-Hathloul was subjected to sexual harassment unprecedented to me from what I’ve witnessed,” the guard wrote in a text to HRW. They were relishing insulting her.

"They were mocking her that she is liberated and would not mind the harassment such as sticking their hands into her underwear or touching her thighs or spouting degrading words at her.”

Saudi prosecution services maintain that investigations have taken place and no evidence was found.