REUTERS/Mike Blake
- Sexual assault is the most common crime reported on cruise ships, according to data from the Department of Transportation (DOT).
- In 2018, cruise lines reported 120 alleged crimes to the DOT, including 82 alleged sexual assaults.
- Sexual assault has been reported by cruise lines to the DOT more than any other crime since at least 2016 (220 alleged incidents have been reported since then) according to the Miami New Times, which published a story about sexual assaults on cruise ships from journalist Meg O’Connor on Tuesday.
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Sexual assault is the most common crime reported on cruise ships, according to data from the Department of Transportation (DOT).
In 2018, cruise lines reported 120 alleged crimes from the following categories: homicide, suspicious death, missing US national, sexual assault, kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, firing or tampering with vessel, and theft of over $10,000.
Cruise lines reported 82 alleged sexual assaults from 2018 to the DOT, more than any other crime. Theft of over $10,000 was the second-most common crime, with 22 alleged incidents reported from 2018.
Read more: A lawyer who represents cruise ship workers reveals the hardest job on a cruise ship
Sexual assault has been reported by cruise lines more often than any other crime since at least 2016 (220 alleged incidents have been reported since then), according to the Miami New Times, which published a story about sexual assaults on cruise ships from journalist Meg O’Connor on Tuesday.
Some crimes are not reported to the DOT because they do not fall under the categories included in the agency’s cruise ship crime report, according to the Miami New Times. A review by Congress members of crimes reported by cruise lines to the DOT and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2011 and 2012 reportedly found that cruise lines reported 30 times the number of crimes to the FBI that they did to the DOT.
Of the 149 sexual crimes cruise lines reported to the FBI in 2011, 64 were not categorized as rape or sexual assault, which means they did not have to have to be disclosed to the public, according to the Miami New Times.
According to the Cruise Lines Industry Association (CLIA), a trade association for the cruise industry, 11.9 million people from the US took a cruise in 2017, and the group projects that 28.2 million people from the US took a cruise in 2018.
"Although allegations of crime onboard cruise ships are rare, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) cruise lines take such allegations very seriously," a CLIA representative told Business Insider. "Cruise lines have every incentive to ensure that any allegation of serious crime is properly reported and that the alleged victim receives all the care and assistance he or she needs."
Read the Miami New Times’ full story here.
- Read more:
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- 8 things cruise-ship workers want to tell passengers but can’t
- A lawyer warns of a legal nightmare you can face on a ship
- Cruise-line workers reveal the grueling schedules they must keep while on the job
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Source: Business Insider – mmatousek@businessinsider.com (Mark Matousek)