Cruise ships are enjoyable for countless people around the world. The vast majority of them take their cruises with delight and return home very happy and quite satisfied. This also applies to non-cruise ship vacations as millions of people travel to other cities and countries annually, have a good time and good memories.
The aforementioned helpful tips are a basic guide. They’re not made to make you paranoid or for you to never take a vacation abroad. Just be careful, have fun and most importantly be safe.
Another kind of ship that may be a problem for women is the Navy ship in general, likely regardless of what military you’re serving in.
It’s often difficult for a female on a navy ship to be one of the guys. The fact is she’s a female and most of the humans on board are males. Stares and gawking, inappropriate compliments and border-line compliments are a few problems. In addition, if you’re out at sea for an extended period of time, many of the men on the Navy ship naturally begin to have urges.
-The Tail-hook scandal involving a group of Navy Officers harassing and physically abusing civilian and army officers at a party convention is just one of many grand examples.
In the Tail-hook incident (1991) Lieutenant Paula Coughlin was sexually assaulted in a corridor by a group of navy men. The incident occurred at the Las Vegas Hilton, a nice hotel indeed.
-A 1999 court martial of an Army drill sergeant who fondled or harassed 20 female recruits in his command.
-Six sailors were disciplined for taping a female sailor to a chair and photographing her.
-In 2000 the Army’s highest ranking woman claimed that she was grabbed and kissed against her will by another general several years earlier.
-In July of 2000 a U.S. Marine based in Japan was arrested for molesting a 14 year-old girl.
-In a widely published story that occurred in 1995 three U.S. servicemen raped a 12 year-old Japanese girl.
New policy guidelines, training and the punishing of some violators have not ended sexual harassment of women in the military. In fact, it’s still prevalent with higher ranking personnel likely being punished by being forced to retire, with full benefits and pension of course.
According to a pamphlet issued by the U.S. military unacceptable behaviour can fall into three categories; Red Light Behaviour (always unacceptable: sexual touching), Yellow Light Behaviour (sometimes acceptable but is of sensible nature: non- sexual behaviour, possibly offensive jokes; Green Light Behaviour: always acceptable: clean non-sexual, professional compliments.
The aforementioned sexual harassment information is not to be intended against any particular military. Some militaries are a bit better suited for women than others.
If you’re a woman and wish to enlist in the military do your research first. Find out about sexual harassment in your military and the particular branch (if applicable) that you wish to be in.
Search diligently for worst case scenarios and read the literature. If possible, try to contact the person/s. If the victim is too afraid or apprehensive to talk, find another one.
Military recruiters may not be objective persons to ask sensitive questions. They’re hired to do a job (enlist people), they may be too afraid to speak out, they may not care or they may not think that sexual harassment of a woman is a big deal.
In addition, if your nation is at war, read objective unbiased literature about why the war is really waging. Don’t automatically believe everything that’s said on television, even if it’s from your own leader and he’s clean cut and wearing a suit and tie; or if it’s a female for that matter. War can get really tough; wounds can be minor, major, profound or lethal. Not to mention the possible psychological damage.
If there’s a chance you may be sent off to fight, find out what kinds of horrible injuries some GIs have returned home with. No one is bullet, steal or shrapnel-proof. Many kinds of injuries are very painful.
Sexual harassment of women can also occur in law enforcement, local, state or provincial, or at the national level.
Cases of law enforcement in each of these levels have much in common. I’ll briefly delve into sexual harassment of women in the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police).
A case in point is Alice Clark, who joined the RCMP in 1980 in hopes of satisfying a teenage dream.
A native of Hamilton, Ontario she received a post in Red Deer, Alberta where the male workers therein treated her respectfully and were helpful.
The situation began to change for the worse for Clark, soon after she was transferred to traffic duty.
Clark alleged that male officers made it quite clear of how they felt about female officers.
By 1987, Clark had had enough of repeated incidents of sexual harassment and intimidation by male officers; she quit her job.
Clark ended up suing the RCMP; she informed the Federal Court of Canada that she’d been grabbed and propositioned, and publicly humiliated by her superior.
In addition, Clark stated that she once found life-sized plastic breasts taped to her desk. She was eventually awarded $93,000 in damages.
Clark’s case wasn’t typical. It was more on the extreme side. Most cases of sexual harassment of women on police forces range from irritating words to outright sexual propositions.
The introduction of tougher anti-harassment and discrimination policies by the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police and numerous metropolitan police forces is a first step towards a more tolerant environment. But this first step must be conveyed to officers of the law and enforced when needed.
Another case in point is that of Corporal Catherine Galliford who was a spokesperson for the British Columbia RCMP.
Galliford claimed to have endured numerous acts of sexual harassment and unwarranted advances beginning right after she graduated from the RCMP academy in 1991.
Gulliford plans to file a lawsuit against her former employer.
The aforementioned wasn’t an attack against the entire RCMP. Many agents of the RCMP work very hard and risk their lives to make their country a safer and better place. But wrong is wrong, and regardless of how much good any<