Sexual assaults occur on cruise ships at an alarming rate.  If and when it happens to you or someone you love, follow the steps we have outlined at www.cruiseshipassault.com.  The bottom line is this:  report it right away onboard the ship to the security officer and take his or her full name; report it to the FBI and take the full name of the person you speak with; request use of a rape kit (pelvic exam); gather as much information about witnesses as you can;  and when back home follow up with your doctor and psychologist.  

On the one hand, this is not a time when you or your family is in any state to play detective.  On the other hand, you cannot rely on the cruise line to do this job for you.  THEY ARE NOT THE POLICE AND THERE ARE NO POLICE ONBOARD THE SHIP.  The security officer is a cruise line empolyee and looks out for the interests of the cruise line.  True that you should report it right away to him/her.  Otherwise, it looks like you made it all up when you got off of the ship.  But this is not enough.  You have to go the extra step of gathering information yourself.  Also, the cruise lines will NOT give you a copy of the report of the security officer.  The cruise line will NOT be forthcoming with the information collected by the security officer.  The cruise line WILL become your ADVERSARY.  That is why you must gather facts and evidence as much as possilbe.         

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 5:54 pm and is filed under OTHER NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.