Sexual assault at sea exposed

Dianne Brimble, in dark blue top,climbing aboard the Pacific Sky, on which she was later assaulted at sea and died


New revelations that hundreds of women have been sexually assaulted on cruise ships emerge today in Noosa News.

Elizabeth Binning of the New Zealand Herald, reports that new research, jointly conducted by Canadian Professor Ross Klein and Dr Jill Poulston, Auckland University of Technology head of hospitality, has been passed to the New Zealand Herald.

'Dr Poulston described the findings as "chilling"...The research, which analysed data from FBI reports and three major cruise lines, found there was an unusually high incidence of sexual assaults and unwanted sexual contact on cruise ships:

~ Royal Caribbean International - 18 ships and 451 complaints of sexual assault and harassment between 1998 and 2005.
~ Celebrity Cruises - 9 ships and an average of 16 complaints each year between 1998 and 2002.
~ Carnival Cruise Lines - 92 sex-related incidents in the year to September 2008, including 48 of sexual contact, 40 of sexual assault and three of sexual harassment.

Cases include Australian mother Dianne Brimble who died on a P&O cruise in 2002.Her naked body was found in the cabin of four men. She had overdosed on the date-rape drug Fantasy. (For more details see http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/dianne-brimble, which includes a video and photos of the eight 'men of interest' allegedly involved.)

Jill Poulston's research found that 'Attackers were largely members of the crew, while the victims were predominantly female and of varying ages.More than a third of the assaults occurred in passengers' own cabins - often after crew forced their way into the rooms.

'Dr Poulston said the data used mostly involved American and Canadian incidents... the research found "the rate of sex-related incidents on cruise ships is almost 50 per cent higher than the rate of sexual assault on land in Canada".

RCI did, however, show a considerable improvement, dropping its rate of alleged incidents from nearly 112 per 100,000 passengers in 2003 to 45 in 2005.

'Dr Poulston believes one reason assaults are so high on cruise ships is the fact passengers arrive on board and let their guard down. Examples of sexual assaults given in the research varied from a 14-year-old girl who had been kissed and inappropriately touched by a Second Officer through to a woman who was raped in her cabin by a steward.

'A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International, which also owns Celebrity Cruises, said ... the company carried more than 4.5 million guests and crew members in 2010 and reported thirteen allegations of rape and eleven of sexual assault - not all of which were upheld.

'A spokeswoman for Carnival Australia, which operates P&O Cruises Australia and New Zealand, said claims of sexual assault on board its ships were extremely rare and there was no data to suggest assaults of any kind occurred at a higher rate on its ships than on land.'

The meanings of this story for me are not just that it affirms my findings that ships are highly sexualised places, and reiterates the question 'why?'. Nor that it confirms that abuse happens, especially to women, and that perpetrators get away with it; we already know from the case of Akhona Geveza and the Gorch Foch crew (see earlier entries in this blog). Nor is also that shipping lines are dilatory in admitting the problem and disciplining the wrong do-ers.

It's more that research into gay seafarers shows that, ironically, shipping lines in the past dealt with the problem very well - by employing male seafarers who were not heterosexual, and therefore seldom a threat to women passengers. Some may joke that the obvious solution is simply to employ an all-women crew.

But the real answer is to tackle the pervasive sexism that means women are repeatedly victims of assaults. The over-sexualisation of holiday, over-use of booze and availability of date-rape drugs doesn't help either. As commentators of Dianne's death said, have a lot of fun, but have it responsibly.

For more info on such crimes see: http://www.cruisejunkie.com/

Women at sea in Royal Navy: The transition years

Kath Sherit made an interesting presentation about Wrens and their seafaring, at the Institute of Historical Research yesterday (Wed 26 Jan 2011).

The long saga in the 1970s and 80s about whether Wrens could be allowed to go sea in Britain's defensive navy is a tangled tale. Using official reports and participants' revelations, Sherit has created a clear summary of what was going on. It's part of her Ph.D.

One of the key reasons women were finally allowed into men's hallowed vessels is that there simply were not enough men - competent men - to do the job.

The picture above is one I tinted from a photo. Although it's a Wren (a Boarding Officer) from an earlier period, it is a really good illustration of the way men possessed the high ground - and the way women were positioned as interlopers.

Because I know about women in the Merchant Navy Kath asked me later why sea service had lost its appeal in the 1970s and 80s. I don't think it did in the Merchant Navy,in relation to women - but I have found no stats to prove it. It would be great if someone working in personnel in shipping offices at that time could send me some information.

My hunch is that throughout the 1970s and 80s, opportunistic women landlubbers continued to be attracted to the sea. They were interested both in:
# the newly-opened up 'men's jobs' like electrician following the two 1975 equality laws
# the glam newish jobs like croupier, beautician, and ship's photographer.

I sense that in the 1970s and 80s the MN and RN attracted very different sorts of women. The Merchant Navy drew adventurers who wanted to be at sea for a while and didn't necessarily have a sense of vocation or national commitment.

By contrast the Wrens probably attracted women who wanted to be in institutional settings, women who'd been in sea cadets or had family in the forces etc and were looking for a solid career, maybe in defence.

The Greenham Common effect meant that in the 1980s very many lively women (potential seafaring material) were peaceniks opposing Trident, and eschewing the military-industrial complex. Belonging to the Royal Navy would not have made such women popular in some circles - let alone enviable, as they sometimes are today.

On the equal opportunities front these days, the Royal Navy is a much better employer. It has really good anti-harassment policies and practices. But Merchant Navy women are captaining bigger ships.

Gorch Foch: women sea cadets harassed to death?

Harassment, humiliation - and now suicide, seemingly!

OK, ships have their bizarre initiation rituals. Though most of us wouldn't like to undergo them, some rituals may not be harmful.

But German navy sailing ship, the Gorch Fock, is undergoing a mutiny investigation because it's all gone too far. It's just emerged that after Nov 2010 some recruits refused to obey orders after a woman cadet fell to her death from the rigging.

Sarah Lena Seele (25) was bullied into climbing the 27 metre mast in a training exercise, say her colleagues. Insult was added to injury when the ship's crew held a raucous party just three days after the woman had died, reports Helen Pidd in a Guardian article: German Navy hit by sex, drink and bullying scandal. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/25/german-navy-sexual-harassment-claims.

Another women cadet, Jenny Böken (18) has also died in mysterious circumstances. She drowned in 2008 and her parents believe she was sexually harassed in the run-up to her death. They have demanded a full investigation.

“I think it is absolutely possible that Jenny was harassed and went overboard during a quarrel,” father Uwe Böken told Bild. “An accident simply doesn’t make sense. From the beginning I’ve thought that sexual coercion was the scenario.”

There have been many complaints about sexual harassment and bullying on this ship. Not only are women the targets, but also young men. Pidd writes: 'In the leaked report... [the parliamentary ombudsman for the armed forces, Hellmut Königshaus] and his team report tales of massive alcohol consumption on board. Drunken officers forced their underlings to scrub their vomit from the deck, it is claimed, and threatened to kill cadets while intoxicated.

'One male cadet complained of sexual harassment in the ship's showers. "It was like being in jail on the ship," he reportedly told investigators. "Every new recruit had to offer up his arse." The cadet said crew members were always throwing his shampoo bottle on the floor so that he had to bend down to pick it up.

'Over the weekend a female cadet told the tabloid Bild that she and other women were frequently propositioned by men on board.

'According to another report in Spiegel Online, one recruit told investigators that crew members told him they were members of the Aryan Brotherhood. [This is]the racist group which is responsible for murders, extortion and drug trafficking in US prisons.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German defence minister, has sacked Captain Norbert Schatz. Once the pride of the German navy and called the country's "floating ambassador" the Gorch Fock,is now being dubbed "Germany's biggest floating brothel."'

Königshaus wants to install an equal opportunities officer on board.

This entirely misses the point that harassment and bullying are cultural problems, to be tackled at the root. Any one who has been at sea will know this can't be just a one-off situation. The case of cadet Akhona Geveza (see my blog July 25 2010) makes that clear.

Respect has to be taught and learnt and learnt, not least in the isolated and pressurised spaces of a ship at sea where people are so vulnerable to bullying.

See more at the Safety4sea site: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.safety4sea.com/admin/images/media/2010.11.09_GORCH_FOCK

USS Enterprise

I can't bear to post a picture and give this whole sorry saga any more attention than it already has had. The pathetic anti-gay, semi-pornographic videos circulated on this ship deserve only three comments.
1. It's useful that we now know the kind of immature culture that exists on - probably many - US naval ships. Those videos have been an education in the pervading attitudes and values in the US navy - and implicitly raise questions about how it is in other navies. The publicity has allowed much useful airing of discussions of LGBT matters and gender at sea.
2. How much use is it to sack the commanding officer, really? Yes, it's great that an official stance is being taken against a senior figure who has perpetuated bigoted and unacceptable attitudes.
But isn't it mainly a bit of tokenism to quiet the scandal? Owen Honors' dismissal must become part of a much bigger move to address homophobia and sexism. The goal has to be that women and LGBT people who chose to work at sea can do so without having to face all this hegemonic brutality.
3. The tabloids and their readers have loved it. Much lewd talk about sex! More sales-enhancing conflict! I would like ships to not be newsworthy because sailed by idiots.

Sexual harrassment at sea - & Akhona's tragedy

The more I think about cadet Akhona Geveza's death at sea and the alleged sexual harrassment it's exposed, the more I feel appalled.

Latest news is that there's no news - and that no-one has asked for a second autopsy on her, to clarify whether she was murdered or killed herself.

The United Filipino Seafarers website (http://www.ufs.ph/2009-10/node/3879) has added this: The SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu), which said it was horrified by Geveza's death, sent its "heartfelt condolences" to her family.

"Akhona’s death should signal to our government the importance of developing our own ship’s register, where South African seafarers can work on ships owned and registered in South Africa, and therefore be protected by South African laws, including labour laws," the union said.

Satawu would seek a high level meeting with Transnet to discuss measures that must be taken to protect trainees from further abuse.

Several cadets in the maritime studies programme, speaking to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity, said there was systematic abuse of power by senior officers, who threatened cadets’ careers if they did not perform sexual acts. The sex abuse allegations include claims that :

* Two male cadets were raped by senior officials while at sea;
* A female cadet terminated two pregnancies that followed her rape at sea;
* Three female trainees were pregnant at the end of their 12-month training stint;
* A male cadet was sent home a month before finishing his programme because he refused to have sex with a senior official; and
* A female cadet has a child with a married South African Maritime Safety Agency executive after he forced himself on her and threatened to cancel her contract if she told anyone.

Said a former female cadet: “When we arrived on the vessel, there were 10 women, and we were told that the captain is our god; he can marry you, baptise you and even bury you without anybody’s permission. We were told that the sea is no man’s land and that what happens at sea, stays at sea.”

Said another former female cadet: “It was like we were dumped in the middle of a game park.”

Cadet Geveza's death exposes shipboard sexual harrassment

This week South African media are reporting the tragic death of Akhona Geveza, a nineteen-year-old South African woman cadet on a cargo ship.

Clever, beautiful and set for a career at sea, she disappeared from the British-registered Safmarine Kariba on June 24. Her poor body was found drifting in the sea off the Croatian coast three days later.

Was she killed by shipmates? Did she kill herself?

Either way,the key seems to be that the day she died a fellow cadet reported (on Akhona's behalf, and against her wishes) that a senior officer, had repeatedly raped her.

Cadet Nokulunga Cele stated that Geveza had said that the Ukrainian officer first tried to kiss her while he was teaching her to swim early in May. Later he apologised to her and called her to his room. But there he allegedly raped her.

Cele said Geveza was not willing to report the matter to the shipmaster because she feared that nobody would believe her. What a lonely, terrible, situation. What an indictment of the shipboard regime.

There is no way that people trying to do their job should ever, ever, be allowed to be abused. It is especially outrageous when the victim is young and at sea because of economic need. (Akhona's father John Geveza, said the career of his only child had represented hope for her unemployed parents in the Eastern Cape).

It is even worse again when their abuser has additional social power over them - such as the ability to enable promotion, or even just daily wellbeing.

Akhona Geveza was a cadet on the Transnet National Port Authority’s maritime studies programme. It was set up as part of a campaign to encourage young women to become seafarers.

But the few stories leaking out so far suggest just how much the merchant shipping industry still has to learn about respecting and supporting vulnerable women - and young men - at sea. More than encouragement is needed. A decent working situation, free from violence, is crucial.

Geveza’s fellow cadets subsequently revealed that there was systematic abuse of power by senior officers at sea “who threatened cadets’ careers if they did not perform sexual acts” reported the South Africa Sunday Times. A woman had to have two abortions, after being raped at sea. Two male cadets were raped by senior officials.

At 10am on June 24 Shipmaster Klaudiusz Kolodziejczyk heard about the rape. He says he immediately confronted the officer and convened a conference with him and Geveza for 11am.

When she failed to arrive for the meeting,he organised a search. Kolodziejczyk, alerted by some pills and a bottle of thinners found on the forecastle of the ship, sounded the alarm and called Sea Rescue at Rijeka.

Captain Kolodziejczyk was no doubt well-intentioned in organising the three-way conference But really! It's insane to subject a victim to that, especially when she was to work with that officer for a long period in an enclosed institution far out at sea. Doesn't Kolodziejczyk know how bullying and social pressure work?

Not only would the rest of her voyage be torture. It's also wrong to treat a rape as a personal dispute between two parties. Rape is a crime. Doesn't officer training include basic procedural advice about how to support the victim? Even the newest police officer ashore knows how traumatising a confrontation could be.

The very least that should be done by Transnet is ensure that this can never again happen on any ship. Akhona's death should alert all masters and shipowners to the very drastic need for training. All ships should be respectful workplaces, where, if there are any such crimes, they are dealt with appropriately.