News

Supporting International Day for Women in Maritime

18 May, 2023

On International Women in Maritime Day, our CEO Sarah Baade, reflects on our work to open up networks to female seafarers to talk, share and support each other.

Over the past eight years, there has been a 45.8 per cent increase in the female global seafaring workforce and no one can doubt that women are now part of the maritime world in ways that didn’t exist 10 years ago. But what hasn’t changed is the significant gender imbalance across the industry.

Women seafarers face a series of gender-related challenges working in a male-dominated maritime environment. These challenges include lower pay, stress, anxiety, depression, isolation, loneliness and occupational injuries.

It’s why I am so pleased that Supporting International Day for Women in Maritime has now become an annual date in our diaries when we can bring focus to both the contribution women are making in maritime, but also the long road we have ahead of us if we are to truly have gender equality.

Writing about today, Kitack Lim, Secretary General of the IMO, said that this year’s theme - ‘mobilizing networks for gender equality’ highlights the importance of collaboration and networking in achieving equality in the maritime sector - and I couldn’t agree more.

While a CEO like me can network with other female maritime leaders at conferences and events like the recent excellent ‘Supporting Welfare of Women at Sea’ webinar run by ICMA and The Seafarers’ Charity, where do the female navigators, engineers, surveyors, cadets and others go?

Well, at Sailors’ Society, we are starting to address that. This year we launched our all-female peer-to-peer support groups.

It's often helpful to talk to other people who have lots in common with you - that's why we originally set up these WhatsApp groups. And so far they have proved hugely popular with male seafarers globally who are now in touch with other crews around the world, sharing joys and challenges and getting advice and thoughts from others in the same position.

Historically, there has been pressure for women to put up with certain inappropriate behaviours and demands, and to become ‘one of the guys’ to fit in. Women have been reluctant to speak up about these things for fear of losing respect, or even their jobs. We knew this meant they would be more comfortable having a dedicated space to themselves and, thanks to Merchant Navy Welfare Board funding, we have been able to set up the first UK female-only peer-to-peer support groups.

These lead the way in our plans to make female-only peer-to-peer support available worldwide, alongside a dedicated helpline for female seafarers, supporting this group and encouraging the next generation into the industry. We are creating safe spaces where women, like their male counterparts, can talk, ask for advice and share from their own experiences. These are places to turn for support when needed.

The aim of Supporting International Day for Women in Maritime is to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector; to raise their profile and work to address the current gender imbalance.

I believe that through initiatives like our support groups, and many other equally innovative programmes in the pipeline, we can make this a reality for the 24,000 female seafarers working today and for the many more who will join them in the years to come.

You can find out more about our groups and how you might help to fund them at https://www.sailors-society.org/peer-to-peer-support

Share this article: