"Dogs came in too. I wet my pants and soiled my pants," Amina later recalled. Asylum seekers get a recreation break away from the camp on Nauru. Credit:Angela Wylie "This is reason I left my country – this fear of rape. "[The man] hit my face very hard. He said: 'Dogs will kill you if you don't suck my private part'. Then I have no choice." The case is detailed in a report to be released on Tuesday by Australian Women in Support of Women on Nauru - a group of researchers, journalists, lawyers and advocates including former WA Labor premier Carmen Lawrence and media academic Wendy Bacon.

The report, Protection Denied, Abuse Condoned: Women on Nauru at Risk, paints a horrifying portrait of rapes, bashings and other degrading acts against women sent to the island by successive Australian governments. Refugee advocate Pamela Curr, one of the report's authors who spoke to Amina after the attack last year, said hers was not an isolated case. "I've received calls from young women deeply distressed because they have been picked up on bush tracks and roads by locals and have either been raped or attacked," Ms Curr said. Not all incidents are reported to police, and most that were "go nowhere", she said, adding many refugee woman say they are targeted "because we cover our bodies and the men don't like it". The report also cited the case of a young African woman allegedly raped at Nauru in March.

The traumatised refugee, who lives in the community, has not left her room since the alleged incident and has attempted suicide, the report said. It noted that refugee settlement service Connect was refusing to bring her food or water, to encourage her to "rebuild her life" out in the community. An email sent by a Connect manager to refugee advocate Ian Rintoul, sighted by Fairfax Media, said the alleged victim "has been unwilling to engage with strategies that we have suggested", including mental health support. Connect was "unable to support her ongoing social isolation by providing food and water daily and thereby enabling a further deterioration in emotional health," the email said, adding that food and water was available nearby. It said the woman could not return to live at the detention centre, as she had requested, because "facilitating independence is a key aspect of developing self agency and … a return to [the centre] would be a backwards step". A Connect spokesman said the woman was not brought food for several days, but was "not doing well" and case workers were now meeting her requests.

A Department of Immigration spokesman said Connect and Nauruan victim support services help assault victims report incidents to local police and access medical and mental health services. Among the report's recommendations were that Australia end mandatory detention, make culturally and gender-specific medical treatment and counselling available at all times and that abuse cases be investigated by an inquiry with subpoena powers. * not her real name Follow us on Twitter