Challenges faced by women seafarers
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is celebrating 18th May as the International Day for Women in Maritime to recognize the significant contributions of women in the maritime industry and promote gender equality within the sector. Today, women represent around 1.2% per cent of the global seafarer workforce, it is estimated that there are around 24,059 women seafarers.
The idea to dedicate a day to Women in Marine stems from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 5, which primarily focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. IMO recognizes the need to address gender imbalance as the maritime industry has traditionally been a male-dominated maritime industry. Hence it is essential to take active steps to enhance women’s participation in the maritime sector. Therefore, this day is being celebrated to promote women’s participation and involvement in maritime activities.
Every year, for this day a specific theme is decided, and these themes often revolve around promoting gender diversity, fostering women’s empowerment, and enhancing opportunities for women in maritime professions. The theme for 2023 is “Mobilizing networks for gender equality”.
The International Day for Women in Maritime serves as a platform to recognize and showcase the achievements of women in different maritime roles, such as seafarers, engineers, naval architects, port workers, and maritime administrators. Overall, it plays a crucial role in promoting gender equality, empowering women, and encouraging greater participation of women in the maritime industry. It serves as a reminder of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the sector, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and equitable maritime industry.
In order to achieve equality in the real sense, protecting the Human Rights of women seafarers should be the priority. This piece will highlight various challenges faced by women seafarers and the position of India in defending the Human Rights of Indian Women Seafarers.
Human Rights of Women Seafarers:
Owing to the lesser representation of women seafarers in the maritime industry, their rights are often overlooked. Prejudice against women professionals is accepted this often runs a risk of their rights being denied to them. Women seafarers face a series of gender-related challenges while working in a male-dominated maritime industry.
These challenges include stress, anxiety, depression, isolation, loneliness and occupational injuries. It is important to note that the list of challenges is extensive and cannot be fully explored in detail at this stage. Women find themselves simultaneously dealing with gender-based challenges while adjusting to a gender-biased job in the maritime sector. Maritime welfare support was traditionally developed to respond to the needs of male seafarers. Now that we are witnessing a greater presence of women in the maritime industry, now the welfare agencies need to ask themselves, what more can be done to identify and meet the support needs of women seafarers.
Sexual harassment at the workplace is also a major concern and firm action needs to be taken from all sectors of the maritime industry. Sexual harassment or intimidation can occur in various manner, ranging from what might be perceived as inappropriate remarks, to actual physical threats, violence and all of these have great impacts on mental health of the victim. It should be a priority to make all the vessels a safer space for women in maritime.
Like all individuals, women seafarers are entitled to the protection and enjoyment of their rights. Here are some fundamental human rights considerations for women seafarers:
The above-mentioned human rights issues are not exhaustive, but all of them are significant and applicable to all women seafarers, regardless of their rank, nationality, or type of vessel they work on. Ensuring the protection and promotion of these rights is essential for creating a fair, inclusive, and sustainable maritime industry.
Further, women seafarers should have greater participation in decision-making processes, especially on the issues affecting their lives and working conditions. They should be included in policy discussions, industry initiatives, and programs aimed at improving the maritime sector.
Way forward:
- Efforts should be taken to eliminate the social stigma attached to women seafarers, this can be done by spreading awareness about this field and career opportunities available in maritime industry for women. And for spreading social awareness and gender sensitization, regular workshops/ seminar/ training programme may be organized at the Government level as well as institutional level.
- Specific knowledge/ awareness about their rights/ do’s & don’ts at sea is essential for women seafarers; therefore a comprehensive handbook may be prepared and made compulsory module of training.
- A strong and efficient redressal mechanism is required to resolve the issues of women seafarers, and strict timelines to be drawn and timely disposal of the matters.
- Appointment of mental health experts/ clinical psychologist should be made compulsory at ships and regular sessions may be conducted for seafarers.
As blog of the week, this article is shared by courtesy of Deepansh Tripathi.
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