In 2022, there were 87 reported cases of sexual assault on cruise ships. That was up from 79 in the first three quarters of 2019, a year before the pandemic shut down the industry for more than a year.Federal authorities have jurisdiction For specific cruisesdepends on factors such as the location of the vessel at the time of the crime, and the nationality of the perpetrator and victim.
This number is part of the quarterly Cruise ship accident report The Department of Transport announced this last week. Statistics from October to December have not been released. During this period, the report listed 16 assaults with serious injuries and 14 thefts of $10,000 or more.
Sexual assault on cruise ships has led to lawsuits in the past. A bartender aboard the Margaritaville at Sea cruise ship in May was charged with entering a passenger’s room and having sex with him without their consent. He agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of abusive sexual contact and is awaiting sentencing. The civil lawsuit alleges that a second woman in the room at the time raped the man, causing her to become pregnant and forcing her to have an abortion.
In an incident reported to the FBI in March, a male crew member on the Carnival Sunrise approached a 17-year-old girl inside a fitness center and assaulted her after she claimed she needed help stretching, according to court documents. He is accused of rape.
Of the reports filed by cruise lines between January and September 2023, 76 of the alleged sex crimes were committed by passengers, 17 by crew members, and four by “unknown” or “other” parties. there were.
At Carnival Cruise Line, which carries more passengers than any other company in its industry, passengers reported 36 incidents of sexual assault and rape in the first nine months of this year. Royal Caribbean reported the next highest number of accidents with 20, followed by Disney Cruise Line with 15.
Daniel Courtney, a South Florida trial lawyer who has focused on litigation against cruise lines in recent years, said the number of sexual assaults on cruise ships is a sign that companies aren’t doing enough to prevent sexual assault. He said that it reflects that there is no such thing.
“What happens to us as a society when nearly 100 people a year report sexual assault and rape on cruise ships?” Courtney asked.
“One assault is too many,” Chris Cheams, Carnival Cruise Line’s chief communications officer, wrote in an email in response to questions from The Washington Post.
Mr. Cheams went on to explain the scale of the cruise line’s operations. Last year, 5.5 million passengers sailed on a fleet of 26 ships based primarily in U.S. ports. Because the Department of Transportation’s data only considers ships homeported in the U.S., “we report a much larger fleet, more ships, and more U.S. operations than our competitors.” he wrote.
In his case, Courtney said he witnessed a pattern of male crew members preying on girls and women between the ages of 13 and 24. In many of the incidents, crew members escort guests to an area of the ship where they know they will come. Not be monitored by security cameras.
Courtney said cruise lines could help prevent sexual assault by increasing surveillance by installing more cameras and hiring more security personnel. He also takes issue with promotional materials that describe Cruise as:safety” For teenagers.
Cheams said that although Carnival continues to “invest millions of dollars each year in enhanced surveillance cameras in public areas,” such crimes frequently occur in guest rooms.
in YouTube video Ahead of last year’s spring break season, Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy warned that unruly behavior would not be tolerated and that safety on the company’s ships was being strengthened. Cheams also said, “When guests check in for safety training, we will give all parents of teens a safety card and remind teens to be aware of their surroundings and not enter strangers’ private rooms. “We will give them a safety card reminding them to use good judgment both on board and at sea.” ”
The 2023 statistics are the first in the report to distinguish between sexual assault and rape.The Department of Transportation began releasing numbers after Congress passed the deal. Cruise Ship Security and Safety Act 2010.that By law, passengers Access to a written guide on where to report crimes that occur on board, the ability to undergo a forensic sexual examination on board, and confidentiality when requesting or receiving assistance.
The law requires covered cruise lines to report missing people onboard their ships and criminal charges to the FBI. Incidents listed in the 2023 report also include assault with serious bodily injury, arson or tampering with a vessel, theft of more than $10,000, and one “suspicious death.”
In a statement to the Post, the Cruise Lines International Association trade group said its members face “stronger civil liability” in courts under maritime law than shore-based companies, and that “victims face greater civil liability than land-based companies.” “You must prove that the owner negligently hired the employee or maintained a known fact.” predator. The association also said that “transparent public reporting of cruise ship crime statistics is unprecedented in other sectors of travel and tourism.”
According to CLIA 2023 Industry status report, an estimated 31.5 million passengers took a cruise last year. This represents a 54 percent increase from the previous year’s estimate and approximately 2 million more passengers than in 2019.
The industry group commissioned report Criminologist James Alan Fox says commercial cruise ships are “very safe in terms of the risks associated with violent criminal activity.” The report shows that the incidence of violent crime at sea is much lower than on land.