PYA Councillor, Lynne Edwards, recently wrote an article highlighting the prevalence of sexual harassment in the yachting industry, which included some of the findings from our survey on sexual harassment, conducted in 2018.

Since then, multiple yachting organisations developed services to offer crew more support in this area, including Safer Waves - an organisation set up in 2019 offering support services for seafarers who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment or gender discrimination on board. 

Safer Waves is a UK registered charity and has recently introduced their anonymous email support service, run by a team of volunteers who have received training from Rape Crisis South London in how to respond to emails about sexual violence, providing emotional support and information.

What to do if you’ve been a victim of sexual harassment?

Crew should always report instances of sexual harassment or assault to their HOD’s or Captain onboard. 

If no action has been taken, we advise crew to report all incidents to their management company and organisations such as the PYA or ISWAN who can provide confidential assistance and put you in touch with legal professionals and counseling services, such as Safer Waves.

For more information about Safer Waves, click here.

To read Lynne Edwards' article via OnboardOnline, click here.