The PYA launched a groundbreaking study to explore the impact of sexual harassment on yachting crew across the industry. The survey was conducted with PYA members and provided an insight into prevalent wellbeing issues that have been affecting a number of yacht crew professionals over the past several years.
Sexual harassment has been one of the difficult subjects to tackle in the industry where there have been diverging standards and practices on how to address it. There are misconceptions on what constitutes as sexual harassment, what the procedures are and many yacht crew are unaware of their rights - or how they can seek help.
Explore some of the key takeaway findings from our Sexual Harassment in Yachting 2018 study below. (Research partners can request access to full statistics by contacting their PYA representative. If you would like to partner with us on an upcoming research project, explore our research opportunities here.)
Exploring the impact of sexual harassment in the yachting industry
A number of fielding questions was asked to respondents to learn more about their current yachting experience and the types of yachts they had been working on:
How long have you worked on board a yacht?
44% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht for less than 1 year.
39% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht for 1-5 years.
11% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht for 6-10 years.
5% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht for 10-20 years.
1% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht for 20+ years.
What is the length of the yacht?
12% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was less than 30m in length.
46% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was between 30 to 50m in length.
26% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was between 50 to 75m in length.
13% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was between 75m to 100m in length.
2% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was between 100m to 125m in length.
Less than 1% of respondents said they had worked on board a yacht that was in excess of 125m in length.
Respondents were then asked a series of questions relating to sexual harassment and complaint procedures in the yachting industry. (Some questions have been redacted. Please contact us if you wish to access the full data which includes over 30 questions and responses):
Were you given a copy of the yacht's Complaint Procedure when you joined?
51% of respondents said they had been given a copy of the yacht's Complaint Procedure when joining.
49% of respondents said they had not been given a copy of the yacht's Complaint Procedure when joining.
Does the yacht have a written policy regarding sexual harassment?
34% of respondents said the yacht had a written policy regarding sexual harassment.
36% of respondents said the yacht didn’t have a policy regarding sexual harassment.
30% of respondents said they were unsure whether the yacht had a policy regarding sexual harassment.
Are you aware of the rights of you and your fellow crewmembers and the current flag-state legislation covering sexual harassment on board your yacht?
44% of respondents said they were aware of their rights and those of their fellow crew members and the current flag-state legislation covering sexual harassment on board their yacht.
56% of respondents said they were not aware of their rights and those of their fellow crew members and the current flag-state legislation covering sexual harassment on board their yacht.
Have you ever personally been the recipient of unwanted physical contact whilst working on board?
39% of respondents said they had personally been the recipient of unwanted physical contact whilst working on board.
61% of respondents said they hadn’t personally been the recipient of unwanted physical contact whilst working on board.
Research conducted by the Professional Yachting Association
Dates: March 13th - September 25th 2018
Sample size: 633
Estimated margin of error: 4%
Sexual Harassment in Yachting 2018 Study
