Instances of PSV examined range from invasions of privacy of a sexual nature to forcible rape. Consequently, the authors conceptualize PSV on a continuum to avoid focusing only on extreme incidents. The continuum also allows the exploration of the sociostructural links between the various forms of PSV. The continuum is based on the "obtrusiveness" of the police behavior. "Unobtrusive" behavior includes behaviors such as voyeurism, viewing sexually explicit photographs or videos of crime victims, and other invasions of privacy. "Obtrusive" sexual behavior includes unnecessary, illegal, or punitive pat-down searches, strip searches, body cavity searches, the provision of police services or leniency for sexual advantage, the use of deception to gain sexual advantage from citizens, and some instances of sexual harassment. Criminal behavior involves certain instances of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. The extreme power differential between police officers and female citizens comprises only one of several links that connect the various forms of PSV against women. Others are a sexist organizational ideology, judicial and legal support or tolerance for some types of PSV, and the structural position of the police. A critical element throughout the PSV continuum is the sexist nature of the conventional police culture. 80 references