As part of its members’ assistance service, the PYA has seen a marked increase in the number of incidents of sexual harassment reported by crew members.

In light of the recent global #metoo movement which highlighted the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, the PYA would like to explore the true extent of the problem in the yachting industry. We believe that the incidents that have been brought to our attention are merely the tip of the iceberg, and that there is a large number of unreported occurrences.

There could be many reasons why harassment is not reported. Not wanting to create tensions onboard, worrying about reputational repercussions, feeling ashamed, feeling threatened or merely not knowing how or where to report the incident to.

In order to approach the problem, the PYA has launched an industry survey to give crew members a voice (anonymously if desired) to bring forward their own experiences of sexual harassment in yachting.

One of the purposes of this survey is to form the foundations of a support network for women working in yachting, giving them a platform to turn to in cases of sexual harassment, or other issues such as discrimination, pregnancy etc.

The formation of this group is currently underway with a group of volunteers from various different segments of the yachting industry.

Even if you yourself have not been the victim of sexual harassment, we would welcome your input to the survey. This invitation is for all sexes and departments onboard, as well as shorebased industry professionals. It should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and can be completed anonymously if desired.

The answers you provide in the survey are confidential and whilst information gathered will be used to analyse trends and identify gaps for support and advice, individual answers will never be revealed.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete the survey and share it with others in the industry.

To complete the survey, please go to the following link.

www.surveymonkey.com/r/sexual_harassment_yachting

The survey can also be found on the PYA website www.pya.org