Cork college playing part in push to end maritime sexual harassment

A CORK college is playing its part in what is being described as a “maritime me too movement” amid efforts to stamp out sexual harassment in the industry.

Student counsellor at The National Maritime College of Ireland, Paul McCarthy spoke about how the facility is escalating preventative measures to protect cadets vulnerable to sexual harassment.

The NMCI campus in Cork recently hosted a group of speakers that included a trustee of SaferWaves which aims to address issues relating to sexual violence at sea. It also featured contributions from MTU’s sexual violence and harassment prevention officer Ciara Mulcahy Linehan.

Speakers from the UCC bystanders' intervention programme also attended the event to inform cadets of their initiative. The concept aims to reduce the instances of sexual assault by encouraging students to intervene in high-risk situations. Performance psychologist and endurance adventurer Karen Weekes, who was the first Irish female to row the Atlantic Ocean spoke at the event about coping skills in the face of adversity.

Student counsellor at The National Maritime College of Ireland, Paul McCarthy said that sexual harassment in the maritime industry needs to be addressed.

“The industry is 98% male so the majority of sexual harassment and sexual violence is where females are the recipients,” he said. “There have been times when a minority of the students have experienced inappropriate behaviour. While this is not an NMCI problem we know it is an industry problem and our response to the issue has to reflect that.” 

He said the National Maritime College of Ireland is one of few facilities raising awareness of the topic.

“I am conscious that since around 2022 there is a maritime me too movement starting to rise within the industry. We are very conscious of the need to make people aware that bullying, harassment, and sexual violence can be an issue within the maritime industry.” 

The college is hoping to send out a strong message in relation to the subject.

“It’s a courageous message to send out. I think we have to balance our ethical responsibility by making people aware that this can happen and ensuring we don’t frighten them at the same time. By doing this we are able to live up to our ethical responsibility by raising awareness of the minority of people who can experience this.” 

Mr McCarthy reiterated the potentially devastating impact of sexual harassment.

“From working professionally in a broad array of environments I am aware of how devastating bullying and sexual harassment and violence can be. It has the potential to psychologically devastate people and that’s across the board. We want to put a framework in place that will become the norm. The idea is that people who believe they have been the recipients of improper behaviour can call it out in the knowledge that they will be supported.”