Are women mariners at risk?

When it comes to research on the health and safety of workers, women in the maritime industry are one of the most understudied groups. Ally Clonch aims to change that. 

“Oftentimes, a woman mariner will be the only woman on a ship of 100 people,” said Clonch, a PhD candidate in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). Onboard, often for three months at a time, women in the industry can face gender-based discrimination, harassment and even violence. 

Incidents like these put women in physical danger, but they can also threaten their mental health.

“Mental health affects the ability to make decisions and respond to high-stress environments, like the ones mariners face on a huge ship in the middle of the ocean,” she said. “If you're under duress, you're going to have a harder time keeping yourself and your coworkers safe.” 

Clonch recently won a Russell L. Castner Award to support her research to survey mariners about mental health and harassment, building on work begun by her adviser, DEOHS Assistant Professor Marissa Baker.

Surveying sailors 

“Our big goal is to have a baseline of how frequently women on board ships are experiencing some kind of gender-based discrimination, harassment or violence,” Clonch said. 

The study emerged from similar research Baker did in 2021. While surveying mariners about their mental health during the height of the pandemic, she heard concerns about gender-based violence and aggression on ships.

Study partners, which included the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP), wanted to know how frequent and severe these incidents were. 

In the forthcoming cross-sectional survey expected to roll out in early 2025, Clonch aims to survey at least 200 mariners, asking whether they have experienced or witnessed gender-based harassment or violence in the workplace. The survey will also include questions about depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, because the researchers aim to examine associations between these mental health outcomes and exposure to harassment. 

Finding solutions 

Once Clonch has results, she plans to guide industry leaders through a structured process to build consensus around priority issues, solutions and how to apply them. 

“We want the solutions to be actionable, something that can be implemented to address the issues we see from the results of the survey,” she said. 

It may not be easy. Based on her experience attending an annual meeting of the SOCP, there is still some stigma associated with addressing mental health in the industry, not to mention practical challenges. 

“How do we connect mariners who are on these ships with therapists, if they need help?” she said. 

Still, attending the conference and connecting directly with maritime workers to hear about their experiences was invaluable to her work and desire to make positive change. 

“They were really excited that someone wanted to listen,” she said.