I joined part way through. I missed most of the action items and mostly caught a lot of rah rah we are all on board at the end.
Master’s who want to put their head in the sand and pretend they bear no responsibility are in for a rude awakening. The action item I saw that I felt could potentially have some teeth is that the USCG is going to start requiring SASH programs be part of a company’s SMS. How much teeth is up to the USCG but it seems to soon be a part of annual DOC audits at the company and periodic SMC audits on the vessel. There was also some talk about socializing in cabins, that there is no need for it and that cabins should be seen essentially as bedrooms and if you want to socialize do it in public places like the lounge.
I think the US needs to look at the Maritime Labour Convention, there is a lot of teeth there should the Flag State wish to exercise it. I know they will never sign on to the whole thing but the CG could establish their own Maritime Labor Regulations in the CFR incorporating at least some parts of it.
I caught most of the round table. I think your right on the rah rah. I also think your right on the changes coming on the DOC audits. I thought the State Maritime Academy rep from Maine didn’t add any value or perspective. Some of the more practical input was from the unions. I thought it was interesting to listen to some of the Midshipmen. In particular I thought the female mids brought insight. Even Navy Ltjg was interesting. The kid who was regimental sash coordinator ( maybe I got that title wrong) seemed to have the most raw and perhaps relevant input. But she was on a train ( not sure why on a Nov morning during school year) and I couldn’t catch a lot of what she had to say. I hope they got all of her input. Seems she may have a good feel for what’s not working and why.
Other than that I think the shipping firms will bear the brunt of attempting to influence cultural change and I think that may take awhile to see if it sticks.
The time I was most ignorant of that stuff was right before I sailed first assistant for the first time and had to think about it again, had to make sure to get the crash course from the offgoing (superstar) wiper on cleaning and painting!
Two points here Tugsailor, (1) it was reported that the victim was seriously intoxicated and unable to take care of herself, which is not a state one wishes to be in if one wants to avoid the chance of becoming a victim; and (2) US maritime academies do have their own training ships, this woman was on her commercial training cruise.
And to those of you say it’s not right to blame the victim, well you’re wrong. When a victim contributes to their own victimization, something is wrong. A crew member getting stinking drunk on a ship is just plane reckless. What if an all-hands emergency took place? The drunks would be unable to perform their duties and people could lose their lives.
Being drunk on the ship is wrong. It is not permission to be abused, it does not mitigate the guilt of the abuser. It has nothing to do with it. It adds zero culpability to the victim.
And if the victim was drinking coffee and some b*stard put something in the drink?
How about just having a couple of beers and still end up in the same predicament?
There are rapists who specifically cultivate situations to more easily commit their crime and then blame it on the victim. It doesn’t help that most cultures around the world are ultra misogynistic where the victim is blamed 100%, even if a child.
Historically, sailors haven’t been the guys with the most stellar behavior. One such example that goes on to this day is from the mutiny of The Bounty in 1789, where a bunch of Polynesian children ended up kidnapped and consequent generations suffered rape. It was so severe, the UK courts have to deal with this to this day.
If a crew member gets stinking drunk and reckless can we kill them or beat them? After all they are a hazard and cannot perform their duties or can we just rape them? You know, teach them a lesson. At what point does a civilized company or society draw the line? I realize that crimes on the high seas is difficult due to jurisdiction. One would think the flag state would take on this issue, but not likely.
Some women/girls practice smart risk management. Some don’t. Some even engage in risk taking behavior (like getting stinking drunk alone with a bunch of drunken men in an isolated location).
This woman did not practice good risk management.
However, that does not excuse the rapist. Quite simply, the rapist engaged in a crime of opportunity. Was this his first time as rapist? We’ll never know.
She can exercise all the bad judgement in the world, wear what she wants, tell what ever kind of jokes she wants, drink whatever she wants- none of that imparts the least culpability on her to get attacked, none.
This is an important concept to get for us to understand and internalize. You can not rationalize the acts of the rapist.
These rationalizations are a large part of why some woman have difficulty reporting these attacks. They anticipate, fear being found somewhat at fault - they anticipate, fear nothing will be done. So they internalize the attack, keep it to themselves - and the rapist moves on to the next one.
Your points are not well founded and are rather antagonistic to anyone who has been a victim of these crimes. Judging a victim because of intoxication is nonsensical. I think we should focus on the underlying issues. Just take a look at the latest Op ED. Time for the industry to have a long hard look in the mirror. These acts denigrate the victims and also destroy the fabric of our industry. Times up# for our profession
When I was a child my mother told me never to get into a stranger’s car. Why? Because some people are bad. Parents are not condoning child abduction or excusing child abuse by telling their children to stay out of a stranger’s car. They are only giving advice to those they want most to protect.
@Frank_Fitzgerald only pointed out a truth. That a woman (or man) should avoid risky situations such as drinking on ships. He and the others are not excusing assault or blaming the victim. He was only giving advice.
Anyone who read his post may act on it in the future. That makes it advice. Is an NTSB report only blame or can someone read an NTSB report as advice on how to avoid a similar fate?
People don’t like what he said because it goes against a PC narrative.