Cruise Victims Testify in California about Horrors and Dangers of Unregulated Cruise Ships
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=x19cdso0iysdjv
By Malcolm Maclachlan (published Thursday, April 10, 2008)
Cruise ships conjure up happy visions of the Love Boat and the sun-kissed South Pacific. But a crime-victims advocacy group says there's a lot going on that people don't know about--and that passengers often are at risk. The cruise lines take the legal position they do not investigate crimes," Carver said. "They say, we go to the FBI, which is voluntary. The FBI says they don't have the resources. No one does anything."
The committee also heard testimony from Laurie Dishman of Sacramento. She said a security guard sexually assaulted her in her cabin in 2006 on another Royal Caribbean-operated ship. The guard was originally hired as a janitor and only became a guard because of a lack of trained guards on that particular cruise. When she tried to report the crime to the ship's management, Dishman said, she was rebuffed and even told to gather evidence by using a police "rape kit" on herself.
In fact, Carver said, a majority of crimes on cruise ships are committed by crew members, with sexual assault being the most common crime. Most incidents are never reported to U.S. law enforcement authorities, he said. Over a period of just under five months last year, according to the FBI, they received 207 complaints of serious crimes on cruise ships. This included 41 sexual assaults and four missing persons.
By Malcolm Maclachlan (published Thursday, April 10, 2008)
Cruise ships conjure up happy visions of the Love Boat and the sun-kissed South Pacific. But a crime-victims advocacy group says there's a lot going on that people don't know about--and that passengers often are at risk. The cruise lines take the legal position they do not investigate crimes," Carver said. "They say, we go to the FBI, which is voluntary. The FBI says they don't have the resources. No one does anything."
The committee also heard testimony from Laurie Dishman of Sacramento. She said a security guard sexually assaulted her in her cabin in 2006 on another Royal Caribbean-operated ship. The guard was originally hired as a janitor and only became a guard because of a lack of trained guards on that particular cruise. When she tried to report the crime to the ship's management, Dishman said, she was rebuffed and even told to gather evidence by using a police "rape kit" on herself.
In fact, Carver said, a majority of crimes on cruise ships are committed by crew members, with sexual assault being the most common crime. Most incidents are never reported to U.S. law enforcement authorities, he said. Over a period of just under five months last year, according to the FBI, they received 207 complaints of serious crimes on cruise ships. This included 41 sexual assaults and four missing persons.
posted by Timalantoo | 4/10/2008 06:50:00 AM
1 Comments:
The good thing about this is that the FBI has been alerted to the behavior. They need to crack down on this. But victims need to know that telling someone is the absolute crucial first step to healing. What helps is knowing that they are not the only ones out there that have suffered through this. What's great is that there's a new documentary series on the Biography channel called "I Survived" which features people that have lived through seriously traumatic events. Each episode contains at least one rape story. I think a lot of victims will find it highly cathartic and inspiring to hear about people going through this hell and triumphing in the end. It airs MONDAYS @ 9pm ET. If you want to see more about the show you can preview episodes at http://www.bio.tv .
Will YOU be watching?
Post a Comment
<< Home