Histories of SASH at sea: toxic attitudes and individual women’s fightback 1850-1950
Jo Stanley, author of the new Seafaring Women Through History, explores evidence about SASH at sea in the nineteenth and early twentieth century
'I came to work as a stewardess, for my husband and my children … I had not come to be his mistress,’ Isabella McKenzie told a law court as she complained of abuses by her captain. Sounds familiar? Yet Isabella’s struggle had happened in 1860. And she had no Safer Waves to support her.
It was 160 long years before Gisèle Pelicot in Avignon refused to be silent about multiple denigration, asserting ’shame must change sides’; before Virginia Guiffre’s revealed the systemic trafficking of minors to wider attention and started the Speak Out, Act, Reclaim organisation; and before stewardess Paige Bell’s 2005 Bahamas murder connected #MeToo to yacht industry malpractice as never before and spawned new protective initiatives.
The sexual violence that Isabella alleged (I am legally obliged to use that formulation) seems to have been what is now recognised as usual: not a matter not of desire but of an entitled man’s repeated opportunist misuse of power over trapped, less powerful, women in an isolated place.
Between Liverpool and the US, the setting was the Glasgow, a 1,962-ton emigrant ship. Isabella was the only woman working on board. But she knows Captain James Bates Thomson went to at least one woman passenger’s room too; Miss Mangan said she would tell her brother, a priest. Afterwards. And seemingly didn’t.
Newspapers used euphemisms such as ‘take liberties’ and ‘violate her person’. So we can’t tell if Isabella was claiming rape or relentless verbal and physical harassment. ‘He said he had never had a stewardess but would yield to him….He said there was no use in this mock modesty … he was bound to have his desires’ in the end.
The captain invaded her cabin, stripping back her bedclothes, as well as attacking her in his quarters. She’d begged ‘Do take me and throw me overboard, for it is preferable to this.’ He had even got the crew to hose her down on the deck. Later he tried to bribe her silence.
Why had she not called out, or protested earlier, doubters asked. She explained her sense of responsibility. Aware of passengers nearby, ‘'I did not want the ladies to know that he treated me so, for the sake of the company'. Also, she ‘did not wish to … deprive him of a situation [job]’.
Later, back home and angry, this Isle of Man breadwinner for four children and a sickly husband spoke out at Liverpool’s grand new Assizes.
Going public - fruitlessly
Isabella’s revelations of her abuse came about because Captain Thomson was seeking damages for wrongful dismissal. After she had told the company of his behaviour the Inman Line had removed him from command just as he was about to get a prestigious new ship and a 25% rise.
He claimed her reports were just malicious revenge by an alcoholic prostitute whom he’d had sacked for drunkenness. But the court let him get away with it, awarding him £250 damages. He got his £500 p.a. job. There’s no evidence about whether Isabella sailed again, or how she recovered from what would now be seen as complex PTSD.
Why wasn’t Isabella believed? Because she was lowly and female. Because juries were composed of elite males (for another 59 years). Because a cabin boy witness didn’t corroborate her story. Because some of her shipmates testified that she drank.
They didn’t claim that she was often drunk, but that she did that thing that further confirmed Woman’s lack of any right to be respected: occasionally had a brandy. No-one asked about men’s alcohol consumption patterns on board.
We can’t know how many other were in Isabella’s situation. Newspapers carry scores, but not hundreds, of reports of differing degrees of gendered male denigration of the women on ships. But in the period 1860-1879 alone I’ve already found eight published accounts. They include assault, one rape, and several reputationally destructive acts by spurned shipmates.
Seawomen – and some husbands on their behalf – fought back. But winning was something else.
‘Extraordinary Case.- Alleged Immorality by a Captain’, Northern Daily Times, Liverpool, 26 December 1860, p3.
Seawomen – and some husbands on their behalf – fought back. But winning was something else.
How easy to overlook
Newspaper stories of SASH are the latest part of my 40-year exploration of women’s maritime history. I’ve been gathering women’s oral testimony and officers’ reports, and detecting clues in company records.
Since I finished updating the book that’s just out, I seem to increasingly find material about SASH that I hadn’t noticed enough before, included behaviour with enslaved women and convicts. Collecting antique ‘funny’ postcards has showed me how much cultural scaffolding there is for the idea that Jack Tars are ‘naturally’ charmingly naïve philanderers, and the boast that women love being the prey in this non-criminal ‘sport’.
Initially I had the usual idea: ‘that perpetrator was just an odd bad apple’. Then I thought ‘What a lot of dodgy types these women encountered; why were so many on ships?’. It would have been more useful if I’d asked ‘What is it about sea travel that makes SASH so much more common and intense there?’
And finally I saw what I don’t want to see: that there is critical mass: SASH is and was the norm. As a #MeToo person reeling from the Pelicot assault stories I look back and face the everyday cultural climate in which sexual violence continues to not be recognised as part of ongoing hegemonic acceptance of masculine oppression. Manon Garcia has interestingly discussed this mix in her work on the Pelicot case.
‘How much has been going on for so long!’ I keep realising. Ordering crew to hose down Isabella like an animal seems such an indication of a masculine cultural assumption of the right to bully ‘the feminised’.
he body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.
Key things I’ve seen about historical SASH at sea
There aren’t hundreds of published cases of SASH at sea in history, because under-reporting has always been a problem. There aren’t enough to be statistically valid. But, if we look at them in a context of song, documents, oral history interviews, and picture postcards, some patterns can be discerned:
- If given the opportunity to speak out honestly, many of the targeted women say they were felt they couldn’t protest as they’d be sacked or seen as whingeing spoilsports, and to no avail. Keeping one’s good name was important.
- The ‘prey’ – especially trusting, unmarried, newcomers pre-1939 – felt particularly distressed to find predators were, counter-intuitively, members of the protector class
- Women felt especially defenceless when alone on months-long voyages. This led to a tendency to keep silent for life, which damaged their mental health.
- Shipping companies did not seem to seek to arrest SASH, although hush-money must have been paid to complainants. The Gay Gibson murder on the Durban Castle in 1947 was one of the few that made headlines. Captains were sometimes shareholders or members of shipowner’s families, so coverups were collective and lower female staff were seen as expendable.
- Male shipmates could be gallant protectors. However, the majority didn’t protest at male colleagues’ behaviour, not least because it would affect their own career progression.
History’s use in changing what’s done today
People ask me, in my history hat, if SASH at sea is worse today than a hundred years ago. I think so, because these are hypersexualised times.
But support is in existence now. And training will change the climate. Fortunately today’s background knowledge of SASH is greater, and deeper. This is not least because psychologists and philosophers are now speaking out. Concepts such as victim-blaming and gaslighting are recognised.
What use is such historical knowledge for modern times? A welter of case studies help us see patterns, and therefore see ways to alter destructive ones.
Gisèle Pelicot and Virginia Guiffre will have made a difference to opposing SASH. And so did women such as Isabella, even though speaking out did not bring her justice.
Reading more
Jo Stanley, : ‘Women/sea/ Misogyny: Ending Silences about Sexual Abuse at Sea" in Djoeke van Netten, ed, Gender at Sea, Verloren, Hilversum, 2022, pp203-217. https://verloren.nl/Webshop/Detail/catid/204/eid/58732/gender-at-sea
Manon Garcia, Living with men: Reflections on the Pelicot trial, Polity, 2025. https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Manon-Freie-Universitat-Berlin-Garcia/Living-With-Men--Reflections-on-the-Pelicot-Trial/32207367
Jo Stanley, Seafaring Women Through History, History Press, Stroud, 2026.
Safer Waves supporting seafarers and the industry!
Toni Frost Safer Waves Operations Manager
Gordon – what are you up to? I have decided to take on a challenge that doesn’t have anything to do with the sea! I have volunteered to trek to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro to support a charity very dear to my heart – Safer Waves. Why are you doing this? For a great many reasons…. I am not 21 years old anymore so as a bucket list item it was better to trek now than leave it too much longer haha. But seriously it was a way of trying to raise money during what for a great many is a global financial crisis. All charities suffer from a lack of donations when times are hard and Safer Waves needs the maritime community support. I am so happy that everyone rallied and the support I have received is absolutely fantastic. In the past, I had run 10K’s and marathons and raised money for my chosen local charities but never on this scale. To trek the highest mountain on the African continent at 5895m above sea level will be some endurance test and I think it has sparked everyone’s fascination as to why an ex-submariner and now merchant seafarer would want to put himself through such a challenge to be at that height. As challenges go, obviously the trek itself and the view will be awesome to undertake and no doubt many friends made along the way. But the primary aim is not about me or what I do but to highlight the topic of bullying, harassment and sexual assault. For many years this subject has remained taboo. People pretend it does not exist or ignore the sometimes unhealthy and unwelcome crew interactions at sea. “I do not sit on the fence and am an ally and proud to support those calling for an end to this stain on the maritime industry.” My aim with this trek and the global message I have been raising throughout the maritime community with my fundraising is simply that it must be acknowledged, it must end and together we can make that happen. I do not sit on the fence and am an ally and proud to support those calling for an end to this stain on the maritime industry. I hope it encourages others to become an ally and for those afflicted to feel supported and strong enough to report such behaviours. We often talk about messages we can shout from a mountaintop – you will literally be on a mountaintop, so what message would you shout regarding sexual abuse at sea? I would shout out ‘Do not sit on the fence’ – ‘Be that Ally’ – ‘We are Stronger Together’! Have you experienced or witnessed sexual harassment or gender discrimination onboard? “In my leadership position, I have the power to act and have done so.” Yes, both at sea and ashore. These events affected others and not me personally but as a shipmate, they obviously do affect me and who I am and what I stand for as a decent human being. In my leadership position, I have the power to act and have done so. As we know ships are an enclosed working environment and those who have the rank or power to intervene, support and report need to know what is happening/has happened AND need to act appropriately. This takes education, compassion but also courage. How do you find the courage to be an active bystander ? Being an active bystander means being aware of when someone’s behaviour is inappropriate or threatening and choosing to challenge it. I have the personality, character and experience that comes with maturity to do this. It doesn’t mean it is easy it just means I have the courage to do this. If you do not feel comfortable doing this directly, then get someone to help you such as a friend or someone in authority. On the Trek is there a sweepstake for total number of blisters ? I am sure there will be haha, maybe I could use this to raise even more funds ! How heavy is your backpack? What’s the grub going to be? I will be carrying personal equipment only as the Trek uses certified National Park guides and porters as part of sustainable trekking as it assists the local economy and provides training and fair wages to the locals. The Trek covers 5 ecological zones roughly every 1000m in altitude so it is like trekking from the equator to Antarctica in the short time of the 8-day trek on the Machame route. I am a seafarer so in reality, the grub could be anything and I would still eat it haha. Do you go with just one layer of sock, or do you do an inner and outer sock method to prevent blisters ? I use one pair of socks. Years back in the military when I would do expeditions and field craft we were taught blister control and foot hygiene. You are on your feet the greater part of the day so they will be my number one concern throughout the trek. Dry feet in top-quality socks and broken-in boots that fit and provide ankle support. How many miles in total is the trek and what’s the elevation gain? Over eight days we ascend to the 5895m summit and this is completed in daily chunks of approximately 7-8km. To alleviate altitude sickness we ascend gradually and will actually descend slightly at night to camp. What are you most anxious about? I would say altitude sickness. It does not matter if you are an athlete or have average fitness it will be altitude sickness that will prevent you from achieving your aims. There is the same percentage of oxygen at altitude but because of the increase in pressure less oxygen enters your lungs with each breath. That is why it is a trek and not a race, more endurance really as side effects of altitude sickness are headaches, shortness of breath and fatigue. What will you do when you get back down from the mountain? Shower haha that will probably be a necessity! Then it will be to download my photos and send messages out to my sponsors and the supporting maritime community. What will you do when you get back home? Thank my wife for tolerating me … not only my life as a seafarer but putting up with my mad fundraising ideas. After that I will enjoy hearing what the Safer Waves guys manage to achieve with the donations. I am sure it will be for research, keeping up the great work with the website and email support service and I hope means you can reach even more seafarers and be able to meet where the need is great in as many different ways possible.
A few months ago, Mark Udle got in touch with us and said that he would like to fundraise for Safer Waves. Mark is an outdoor enthusiast, who is passionate about inspiring and encouraging people to get outdoors, for the benefit of their physical and mental health. We were very excited about the prospect of our first fundraiser, and Mark soon fine-tuned his plan. The challenge he decided on is 80 miles of hiking over 4 days, along the steep cliffs of the Jurassic Coast. Mark wanted to involve as many of his colleagues as possible, and set about inviting them to walk alongside him, and to help him with the logistics. So far Mark has completed 260km worth of training with his colleagues and his family.
Once reviews started to come out about a play up in Liverpool based on a female British seafarer, Corrina, and her experiences onboard, I was intrigued and curious to go watch. I’m a person who has not even watched Captain Phillips, Deepwater Horizon or other movies based on our industry, but the plot sparked my curiosity to the point where I found myself on a train heading up to Liverpool to watch the final show.
