The Sun says cruise ships are cities without police! One of the crimes which is a problem is sexual assault. The question before a US Appeals court a few months ago was - does a cruise line company have a duty to warn passengers about dangers of violent sexual crimes on ships, including those committed against minors who have been wrongfully provided with alcohol?
K.T. who was a minor at the time, was bought multiple alcoholic drinks in the public lounge by a group of nearly a dozen adult male passengers. They plied her with enough alcohol that she became highly intoxicated. Later she was assaulted and gang raped by them in a cabin. She alleged that crew did nothing to protect her, thus breaching the duty of ordinary care owed to her.
Appeals court stated that cruise line operator should have known that there was a serious problem of sexual assaults on cruise ships & if the allegations were true (yet to be ascertained!) then its procedures to protect passengers need improvement. Court noted that several such incidents get reported to authorities regularly, which then get compiled as cruise line incident reports. It also referred to a congressional report which stated “…sexual and physical assaults on cruise ships were the leading crime reported..."
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