A Canadian woman is suing a police officer who locked her in the back of a police van with a convicted sex offender who then raped her.

The victim, who has not been named, was 17 when she was arrested in September 2011 in Tasiujaq, an Inuit village in northern Quebec, on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, The Independent reports.

According to court documents, the policewoman handcuffed the teenager and put her in the back of her van, where 24-year-old Joe Kritik was already sitting, without handcuffs.

Kritik had four convictions for sexual assault and was listed on Canada’s national sex offender registry.

When the officer left the vehicle, he struck again.

The police officer returned to find Kritik "with his pants down while on top of the plaintiff," the claim statement reads.

"The plaintiff was unable to defend herself, being handcuffed in her back and unable to leave the vehicle, the doors being locked."

Tasiujaq, the Inuit village in northern Quebec where the woman was raped. (Wikipedia)

Despite the assault, the girl was kept in a police cell overnight and was not given medical attention, and her parents were not contacted, the woman said.

The lawsuit claims the policeman, the police department and the local government showed "a serious lack of professionalism and gross negligence", and seeks $400,000 compensation.

Kritik was sentenced to 39 months in prison in 2012 after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the victim.

A psychologist report says the victim, now 21, has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

She has nightmares of the assault, will not leave home alone and is afraid of men.

"Her depression, loneliness and isolation are getting worse," the psychologist wrote.