WOMEN seafarers make up just 1.2% of the global seafaring workforce, according to the International Maritime Organization, with their representation very low their problems are not made easily visible, creating a recruitment and retention crisis in the industry. 

“If you make the life of women easier on the ships or docks, the percentage of women seafarers will increase,” said International Transport Workers’ Federation women seafarers’ representative Lorena Pintor Silva.

In an interview with Lloyd’s List, Silva said that the main problems for women were physical and mental health problems.

“The biggest problem of the women seafarers is sanitation. Access to sanitary products, sanctuary places such as toilets that women can use, is still a big issue. Sometimes they don’t drink water to not have to go to the bathroom, because there is no toilet for a woman.”

According to a recent research done in Brazil, the bridges of some ships only feature urinals.

“The women normalised that, or they think if they talk about it they would be discriminated against.”

Silva is also a member of National Union of Merchant Marine Officers in Brazil (Sindmar).

Brazil has one of the highest ratios of women in the seafaring workforce, at 13%.

Silva said that huge progress had been made when it came to women’s health issues on the ships, but the studies show that there are a lot of steps to take.

“Before going to the ships, women have to bring huge bags of sanitary products, even disposal bags for used menstrual products because most ships don’t have these facilities. And women seafarers don’t want to ask for them in fear of being humiliated, according to a recent research done by ITF.”

Sanitation is a human right, and about 40% of women report no access to sanitary bins, and stories of male officers laughing when they ask for sanitary products to be available for them.

“Even asking for medication specifically for women can be a cause of embarrassment,” says Pintor Silva, adding that physical health issues leads to mental health issues because women feel distressed.

To solve the problem, there needs to be a change in the culture, and the companies need to take action, according to Silva.

“We have all the regulations but we need action, we need a change of culture. Because the number of women working in the industry is very low these things look like they are not important, but they are very important.

“We need commitment from the companies, they have contracts, they have clauses that they have to fulfil. There also needs to be pressure from the governments. So that if the companies don’t fulfil the requirements, the government should be able to make them pay a fine.” 

One thing Silva and her colleagues in the union noticed while working on these issues was that the companies with more women in leadership positions were more sensitive and responsive. This paves the way for more women to choose a career in the industry, and that leads to more of them having more senior roles in the future. 

“In Brazil, I believe we are slowly changing this culture. The union is helping with it. Since the first women entered the industry in 2000, in just 25 years, they now make up 13% of the workforce.”

When the first women started working in ships, they were sent home with no salary or severely reduced salary if they became pregnant. After a judiciary action by the union and negotiations with the companies, women now get paid during the pregnancy and there are regulations that prevent companies from acting against them.

“This helped a lot for the women to stay in their careers. But there are different cases in each country. I don’t think there is anything like that in the world,” Pintor Silva tells Lloyd’s List.

One of the most important issues for women is sexual harassment. Female seafarers were far more likely to experience bullying or sexual harassment on board than their male counterparts, according to a report by the Seafarers International Research Centre Cardiff University and the Seafarers’ Charity.

The report found that women experience more isolation than men on board due to a fear of sexual assault, and they are more reluctant to report incidents of sexual harassment. 

“The companies have to have a safe channel for the women to report any harassment. If women see that action is being taken after they file a report, more women will report. In many cases the companies take the women out of the ship and relocate them, basically punishing the women,” says Silva.

There are discussions of giving basic training to all seafarers, but there is still not real progress in implementation.

“The shipowners are in charge of creating this policy and culture, they have to commit. As we have more women in leadership positions, there will be more commitment to solve these problems,” said Silva.

“Men should be our allies, too, it doesn’t mean that they are exempt.”