JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Iloilo City

The Prevalence of Harassment in the Seafaring Industry

A Research Paper Presented to

the Faculty of the Senior High School

John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University – (Molo), Inc.

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements in the Subject

Practical Research 2

by

Abad, Russell Lloyd M.

Bolivar, Aeybert A.

Calicaran, Titus Timothy C.

Gastar, Orville P.

Iguiron, Chrise Jeremy S.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This chapter covers five parts (1) Background and Theoretical

Framework of the study (2) Statement of the Problem (3)

Significance of the Study (4) Definition of Terms (5) Scope and

Delimitation of the study.

Part one, Background and Conceptual Framework of the study,

present the rationale for the selection of the problem, and the

conceptual frameworks upon which the study is anchored.

Part two, Statement of the Problem, gives the general and

specific objectives of the research as well as the questions that

need to be answered.

Part three, Significance of the Study enumerates and

explains the benefits that could be derived from findings of the

observation.
 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Part four, Definition of Terms, defines the essential terms

used in the study.

Part five, Scope and Delimitation of the Study, presents

the scope and coverage of the study in connection to the problem,

valuables, participants, source of data, and approaches utilized.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study

Harassment in the maritime industry is a major concern, and it

has been around for a long time. It can take many forms, including

verbal, physical, and sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination.

The shipping and maritime industry is often considered a male-

dominated field, and women have had to deal with harassment and

discrimination in this industry for a long time.

The International Maritime Health Association (IMHA),

International Seafarers' Well-being and Assistance Network (ISWAN),

ITF, and Seafarers Hospital Society (SHS) collaborated to undertake a

survey on the health and wellbeing of women seafarers. Surprisingly,

according to the survey report, 17% of female seafarers identified

sexual harassment as a problem, but in a pilot study, close to 50% of

participants said they had encountered sexual harassment on board. The

pilot survey respondents held relatively junior positions, whereas

women in The supervisory positions responded to the main survey, which

helps to explain why the results of the two polls differed. (Pineiro, L.

C., & Kitada, M,. 2020)

In addition to the negative impact on individual mariners,

harassment can also have serious consequences for the industry. It can

lead to low morale, low productivity, and high turnover rates, which

can negatively affect the performance and profitability of shipping

companies. Harassment can also lead to legal and financial

consequences for companies, as they can be held responsible for

failing to protect their employees from harassment.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Despite the negative impact of harassment on individuals and the

industry, there is a lack of awareness and understanding of the issue

among shipping and maritime companies. Many companies do not have

effective policies and procedures in place to address and prevent

harassment. As a result, harassment continues to be an issue in the

MARINE industry.

Mellbye, A., & Carter, T. (2017) reviewed and assessed

available evidences on the frequency of and trends in depression

and suicide among seafarers. Investigations of depression and

suicide are scarce and the findings are inconsistent. They do,

nevertheless, show indications of improvement although some

recent case series do indicate that suicide remain a problem. A

review of additional indicators for mental distress and lack of

well-being supports the decline in the frequency of the problems,

but nuances this in terms of the relative risks in different

groups of seafarers, showing internal variations in the frequency

of mental health issues among seafarers, with markers such as

rank, type of voyage, gender, age, nationality and crew

multiculturalism being relevant variables. The methodological

limitations that hinder the understanding of depression and

suicide in the maritime sector are identified.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Hence, the researchers aimed to find out how the Alumni of JBLFMU-Molo

are affected by the prevalence and the nature of the cases of

harassment.
 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Conceptual Framework

The framework of the study is graphically shown in

Figure 1.

INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT
VARIABLE VARIABLE

Gender Prevalence of
Age Harassment in the
Seafaring
Rank
Industry
Work environment
Length of sea service

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram showing the relationship of the

dependent and independent variables.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of harassment in the

seafaring industry.

It further aimed to determine the impact of harassment onboard

the vessel, and how prevalent is it in the seafaring industry.

1. What are the common forms of Harassment in the seafaring

industry when classified according to gender, age, rank, work

environment and length of sea service?

2. Is there a significant difference in the forms of harassment

in the seafaring industry when classified according to

gender, age, rank, work environment, and length of sea

service?
 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Based on the proceeding problems the following hypothesis is

advanced:

1. There is a significant difference in the form of harassment

in the seafaring industry when classified according to

gender, age, rank, work environment, and length of sea

service.

Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study was to determine, the prevalence

of harassment in the seafaring industry

This study would prove useful for the following:

Future Seafarers. The results of this study may be of

significance to the future seafarer, for the result of this study

will help them to be more aware of what seafarers are facing in

the industry. It will also provide them the necessary information

about the prevalence of harassment onboard or what to expect

onboard.

Shipping Companies. The result of this study may be of

significance to the Shipping Companies. For The results of this

study may be of help to them to have better insight of the

situation of their workers which may work on a better solution

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Furthermore, this will also provide them the necessary

information to protect their seafarers against harassments.

Fellow Researchers. The result of this study may be

significant to the Fellow researchers, as it may provide the

necessary information for them to be of use. The result of this

study can be used for further researches and related literature.

Furthermore this research can be their basis for their own study

to broaden their ideas on the subject of the prevalence of

harassment in the seafaring industry.

 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Definition of Terms

In order to fully understand the terms that used in this

study, the primary terms utilized are conceptually and

operationally defined:

Age--- a period of human life, measured by years from

birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or

physical development and involving legal responsibility and

capacity. (Dictionary, n.d.)

In this study, Age refers to the length of time that a

seafarer has lived or has existed.

Gender--- is the male sex or the female sex, especially when

considered with reference to social and cultural differences

rather than biological ones, or one of a range of

other identities that do not correspond to established ideas of

male and female. (oxford dictionary, n.d.)

In this study, the term gender is refers to mean the

socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions, and

identities of seafarers.
 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Rank--- is a position in relation to others higher or lower,

showing the importance or authority of the person having it.

(Britannica Dictionary, 2023)

In this study, rank refers to the position of the seafarers

Work environment--- is a space — physical and emotional — in

which employees perform their daily tasks (Perry, 2023).

In this study, work environment refers to the workplace of

seafarers as classified into cargo ship, passenger ship, and

roll-on/roll-off ship.
 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (MOLO), INC.
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Iloilo City

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study aimed at determining how prevalent harassment is

in the seafaring industry

This study is limited to only 30 JBLFMU-Molo Alumni who

graduated from the year 2013 to 2023. It utilized the descriptive

quantitative research design which involves frequency and mean for

descriptive statistics and t-test for inferential statistics. The

Whitaker (2009) engagement scale was used as questionnaires to

determine the prevalence of harassment in the seafaring industry.

The main purpose of this descriptive study was to determine

the number of JBLFMU-Molo Alumni who are engaged in harassment,

the respondents of this study are the 30 purposive selected

JBLFMU-Molo Alumni year 2013 to 2023.

The independent variable in this study, the Gender, Age,

Rank, work environment, and length of sea service while the

dependent variable is the prevalence of harassment in the

seafaring industry.

The data collected is encoded and tabulated by means of the

software program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

(SPSS). The mean, standard deviation, and percentage will be

utilized for descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics, use

t-test for independent samples set at .05 level of significance.