Employers must have effective mechanisms and guidelines to promptly address sexual harassment and violence incidents committed against female seafarers and cadettes.organized by the office of Senator Risa Hontiveros on the pending Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers.
The isolated nature of the ship can increase the opportunities for sexual harassment and violence to occur and can also amplify its negative consequences.Sexual harassment is a reflection of the power relations between individuals involved where, in most instances, the harasser is an officer occupying a higher rank than the woman seafarer.
If women seafarers face sexual harassment in their early careers, it may discourage them to pursue their profession. In most instances, the victims have to face hurdles in filing complaints, very few even reaching courts, leaving their aggressor mostly unpunished. The International Maritime Organization noted that women represent only less than two percent of the world’s estimated 1.2 million seafarers while 94 percent of female seafarers are working in the cruise industry.
Stakeholders have been campaigning for the passage of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers given the fact that the Philippines is considered as one of the major suppliers of maritime labor globally.