Women and men on Nauru say they have been sexually assaulted by guards, while children as young as five have tried to harm themselves because of the inadequate conditions on the island.
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These are some of the harrowing accounts that will be presented as submissions to a Senate committee, with the first hearing at Parliament House on Tuesday.
It comes as six Australian Federal Police officers arrived in Nauru last Wednesday to advise local police on investigating sexual abuse cases, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said.
In a number of submissions to the committee written by asylum seekers, women say they cannot sleep at night because rats run through the tents, and they have been asked to expose themselves by guards if they want additional hot water during their showers.
One 16-year-old writes: "We were going to the celebrations and two local guards were drunk and said to me and my friend 'we have to search you' - they had no scanner, and they laughed at us, put their hands on us, it was so bad, I moved away from he and said later I will come to you and give you a present and he touched his (gestured to penis)."
She also reported the incident to Philip Moss, who authored an independent report into allegations of rape, sexual abuse; and workers from Save the Children who were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.
But the review, released in March, found evidence of rape, sexual assault of minors and guards trading marijuana for sexual favours from female detainees on the island.
Another woman says she was also inappropriately approached by a guard: "He touched my body without seeing me. I scared from him. He kissed my lips by force, he touched my thighs under my underwear. How can I forget that happen, this memory is still hurt me, bother me."
"I still have been seeing nightmare, with screaming and crying I wake up. I'm going crazy, I lost my mind."
The woman says when she was with her 7-year-old son, washing his hair in the shower, the water stopped. The guard told her he would only give her more water if she showed her naked body to him.
The woman says she also reported both incidents to Philip Moss, but that hadn't stopped the abuse.
The submissions have come via the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network, known as DASSAN, which has had access to people who have been detained on Nauru.
Minister Dutton has said that he was working through the incidences mentioned in the review.
"As I indicated at the time, prior to the release of the Moss review I directed the [department] secretary to take an even more active role in responding to allegations than was recommended by Mr Moss," he said.
Last week the Human Rights Law Centre commenced a case in the High Court of Australia on behalf of 10 asylum seekers that challenges the lawfulness of the offshore detention arrangements in Nauru.
The Select Committee on the Recent Allegations relating to Conditions and Circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru is due to report on its findings by June 15.
