Sexual harassment and women seafarers: The role of laws and policies to ensure occupational safety & health

Gender in the maritime space: how can the experiences of women seafarers working in the UK shipping industry be improved?

“…The importance of incorporating wellbeing and diversity into training was also identified as key both to preparing cadets for embarking on their first sea time and to equip senior management to deal with issues such as harassment, abuse or isolation should they arise on board. This is consistent with recent work by Pineiro and Kitada (2020), who noted that seafarers’ training tends to be focused around technical skills and far less on the non-technical aspects of seafaring, such as leadership and management. Similarly, there was a widely held view that providing experienced mentors for cadets and new crew had the potential to be effective, recognising that a shift towards making the duty of care the predominant on board culture would significantly contribute to enabling young crew, particularly those in minority groups, to work in a safe and supportive environment: ‘It all comes down to tolerance on board and as a culture.…”

“…Key features of the regulatory context in terms of this paper include: the UK Equality Act, 2010, which prohibits discrimination and unwanted behaviour (including harassment) in the workplace, including that related to gender; and the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), 2006, which has been ratified in the UK and which establishes seafarers’ rights to decent working conditions. While the impact on the industry of the latter has been significant, there has been recognition that it could be amended to further enhance its role in addressing the maritime gender gap (Dragomir, 2018; Pineiro and Kitada, 2020). Recent steps have been taken in this regard, in particular, for example, the 2019 amendments under which governments and shipowners are expected to adopt measures to better protect seafarers against shipboard harassment and bullying using guidance published jointly by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).…”

Workplace Determinants of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in U.S. Mariners during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Ensuring mariners receive appropriate and frequent communication and training on mental health topics is also warranted. Improving sleep hygiene through both individual and industry actions and focusing on exploring the mental health needs of younger (particularly 25–34 years of age) and minority mariners (including women, and racialized mariners) could have positive impacts not only for mariner wellbeing but also industry recruitment and retention [ 40 , 43 ]. Taking steps to decrease mariner concerns around things such as money, lack of work, and contract length are further changes that the industry could adopt to improve mariner mental health.…”

“…Both PHQ-2 and GAD-2 have validated clinical cut-off scores, with a total score ≥ 3 indicating clinical depression or anxiety is likely and further clinical evaluation is warranted [ 37 , 38 ]. PSS-4 does not have a validated cut-off score, but a score ≥ 6 has been used to indicate higher perceived stress in other cohorts [ 40 ].…”

How can a new UN ocean treaty change the course of capacity building?

“…A piece of equipment will be of little use if there are no resources to maintain and operate it. Some initiatives might even be detrimental – for example, if a person provided with an opportunity to go on a research cruise experiences harassment or discrimination (Carballo Piñeiro & Kitada, 2020; Amon et al, 2022), or if their time is wasted with no opportunity to carry out relevant research. For the BBNJ Agreement, there is a need to both enable and monitor capacity‐building outcomes in the long‐term.…”