Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/01/20/carnival-cruise-lines-per-capita-sexual-assault-rate-is-higher-than-most-u-s-states.html
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So, cruise ships at 42/100,000 when the US average is 40/100,000. Higher than 27 of 50 states.
I have a completely different take-away here: Holy crap - almost half the states in the US have worse sexual assault problems than a cruise ship!?!?!?!
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Just FYI, the vast majority of sexual assaults (that happen everywhere) are not reported, because it’s often hell for those who report it. 
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I am shocked that a floating cocktail bar is merely the same level as the US.
And to Mindysan’s point, yes, sexual assualt is vastly and criminally underreported, although can’t think of why it would be under- or over-reported on a cruise ship v. the US at large.
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For the reason I said… people who report assaults, where ever they report it, get dragged through the mud to a horrific degree. It’s often not worth the trouble to get it prosecuted, because of that.
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I mean relative as between the two – yes, it’s very underreported on cruises and around the US, but I don’t know why a cruise ship would have less (or more) underreporting compared to Columbus, Ohio or Seattle or Denver.
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No real police force
Flying under the flag of another nation
Stuck in close proximity with your abuser
And by the time you reach home port, do you want to relive it all, given the complexities of this case even beyond how less complicated cases are handled?
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If the perpetrator is a crew member, they’re typically not a U.S. national and often enough hired from a country along the ship’s route. They commit the crime and jump ship at the next port. Eventually they make their way home and dodge prosecution this way.
As a side note, my oldest brother is an attorney in Florida. At some point, he shifted from Personal Injury to Admiralty Law. More of that kind of case work there in Florida. Go figure.
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The reporting rate for cruise ships has got to be absolutely abysmal, as, on top of all the usual issues, there’s no one to even report it to, until after you get off the ship, at best days later, with the perpetrator possibly in another state/country, and at which point there’s little chance anything will be done, any evidence collected (or which could be collected), etc. (assuming the cops don’t actively discourage people from making reports, as they have little ability/interest in following up).
Certainly what I’ve read in the past is that this was a huge problem on cruise ships that was almost completely secret due to a near total lack of reporting/enforcement.
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I don’t know if it does or not, but I’m guessing that it’s a hell of a lot harder to get away with sexual assault in an environment like a cruise ship, which is enclosed, and made up of much fewer individuals, with much fewer places to go… But that means it can go either way. And the likely hood of a backlash could be more intense, especially for women employees on the ship.
And the women (and likely some men, too) who work for these companies are probably MORE likely to be sexually assaulted if they’re not American-born… you know, because non-Americans are often considered disposable by some Americans, especially in a situation where one is expecting to be treated like royalty by the staff…
But either way, the reasons why sexual assault would be under-reported remains the same - because of the BS it takes to get it taken seriously.
It’s abysmal in normal, everyday circumstances, so yes. It likely is…
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