The lawsuit, which is replete with detailed allegations of guards involved in forcible sexual intercourse and other forms of sexual misconduct, verbal threats, harassment and voyeurism, seeks class-action status on behalf of all current and future inmates at the three all-women’s prisons operated by the department: the Bedford Hills, Taconic and Albion correctional facilities.

A department spokesman, Thomas Mailey, said the agency “takes all allegations of sexual abuse seriously.” Though the department does not comment on pending litigation, he said, it “thoroughly investigates each claim expeditiously to ensure that appropriate action is taken against any perpetrator in violation of the law or agency rules.”

Of the state’s total inmate population of just over 52,000, about 2,460, or 4.7 percent, are women, the department said.

The suit identifies plaintiffs as Jane Jones 1 through 6 and officers by letters of the alphabet. In one case, the suit accuses “Officer C” at Bedford Hills of sexually and physically abusing and harassing a 28-year-old plaintiff for about a year. The abuse included repeated acts of sexual intercourse with the officer, to which prisoners are not legally able to consent, the lawsuit makes clear.

At one point, Officer C choked her, leaving bruises on her neck. On other occasions, he grabbed her violently by the wrists and pushed her against the wall, the lawsuit says. It adds that an investigator eventually told the woman that no action would be taken against Officer C “because nothing was caught on camera, there was no DNA, and because ‘inmate statements were not worth that much.’”