WOMEN seafarers – 90 per cent of them on cruise ships – experience discrimination, harassment and bullying at sea, according to a report from the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA).
WISTA together with Anglo Eastern, International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) and International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) conducted a public online survey to arrive at these findings.
Of the 1,128 women seafarers – 90 per cent on cruise ships – from 78 countries surveyed 60 per cent reported encountering gender-based discrimination at sea.
Sixty-six per cent said men had turned to harassing and intimidating female co-workers. Twenty-five per cent reported that physical and sexual harassment was common involving intrusions on their privacy.
The Philippines (399) had the largest proportion, followed by the United States (98), the United Kingdom (57), South Africa (51) and Brazil (47).
Said WISTA president Despina Panayiotou: ‘This should be a wake-up call to the maritime sector and we will continue at every opportunity to raise the issues and bring about change.’
