A man broke into the cabin of a female crew member in the middle of the night and sexually assaulted her on October 9th. The sexual assault occurred aboard Costa Cruises’ Costa Favolosa while the ship was sailing to Genoa, Italy.
According to local Italian news, the perpetrator used a magnetic key card to enter the cabin of a “young cruise ship employee” who was asleep. Inside the cabin the man “groped her private parts” before fleeing as the victim defended herself.
The woman was taken to the Galliera Hospital in Genoa, where she was treated by local hospital staff. Additionally, Costa Cruises’ medical team provided care. The woman filed a complaint with local authorities and was unable to identify the man.
The man’s identity is still unknown. The man is presumably an employee of Costa Cruises since he was able to access the victim’s room with a key card.
Sexual assault against female crew members is a significant problem that goes largely unreported and downplayed by the cruise industry. As serious as this incident is, it will not be included in the quarterly cruise crime data. This is because the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010 requires victims to be U.S. citizens and for ships to sail out of U.S. ports for crimes to be reported. Since the vast majority of crew members are non-U.S. nationals, most crimes against them go unreported.
Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.
Image credit: Costa Favolosa – Hannes Grobe CC BY-SA 4.0 COMMONS/WIKIPEDIA