Op Ed: “Male Seafarers also Face Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault at Sea.”

Cebu City, Phillipines

By: Atty. Dennis Gorecho

Originally Published in Cebu Daily News

Sexual harassment can happen to anyone and everyone.

In the case of Richard Toliongco vs. Anglo Eastern Crew Mgt. (G.R. No. 231748, July 8, 2020), the Supreme Court of the Philippines stressed that sexual harassment should not be merely seen as a gender issue, but instead must be recognized as a risk faced by all seafarers. Sexual harassment is an issue of power, not gender, the court said.

Richard Toliongco was a seafarer who was sexually harassed during the course of his employment on board the M/V Mineral Water. On February 23, 2014, Toliongco was deployed aboard the vessel M/V Mineral Water. On the night of June 27, 2014, Toliongco claimed he was cleaning the galley of the ship when he felt the urge to relieve himself. He was on his way to the water closet when he met Chief Officer Korolenko Oleksiy (CO Oleksiy). Toliongco asked CO Oleksiy "if he wanted his dinner served right away," to which CO Oleksiy replied "Ok, Ok, Thank you."

Toliongco served dinner to CO Oleksiy and continued to clean the galley. When he returned, Toliongco noticed that CO Oleskiy had not eaten his fruits. Toliongco handed CO Oleksiy the uneaten fruits but he was instructed to follow CO Oleksiy to his room. When both of them had entered the room, CO Oleksiy "removed all of his clothes and lay on his bed." Toliongco was about to leave but CO Oleksiy called out to him, and as Toliongco approached, "the CO suddenly grabbed his left arm."

According to Toliongco, CO Oleksiy "demanded that he masturbate and suck his manhood." He also claimed CO Oleksiy "repeatedly forced Toliongco's hand unto Oleksiy's penis." However, Toliongco resisted and left CO Oleksiy's room.

Toliongco then went to the smoking room where he saw Able Seaman Desiderio Paner (Paner). He told Paner what happened and requested that Paner accompany him while cleaning the galley.

Toliongco was about to finish cleaning the galley when Paner told him that CO Oleksiy was waiting for him in the ship's office. Toliongco asked Paner to accompany him, but Paner suggested that he should "just run or shout if the situation became precarious." Paner also promised "to follow Toliongco if he did not come back soon."

Toliongco "was made to enter the cabin first." Upon entering, he averred that CO Oleksiy locked the door, grabbed and embraced him, then dragged him to the bed. Toliongco resisted and managed to escape. After this, he told Paner as well as Chief Cook Edenjarlou Eseo (Eseo) what happened "and requested permission to call his parents."

The following day, Toliongco filed a Complaint for "Physical Abuse and Sexual Abuse under Alcohol Intake" against Oleksiy before the Captain. Paner and Eseo corroborated the complaint through their written testimonies. All these incidents were entered in the Deck Log Book.

Toliongco claimed that when CO Oleksiy learned about the complaint, he threatened to kill him. Out of fear, Toliongco requested for a reliever. On July 12, 2014, he was repatriated to the Philippines.

Several months later, he filed a complaint for constructive dismissal, sexual harassment and maltreatment with prayer for the payment of disability benefits, damages and attorney’s fees claiming that he is rendered permanently and totally disabled due to his post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his unfortunate experience onboard the vessel. The court, however, denied the claim for disability benefits  because the pieces of evidence submitted are not sufficient to convince the Court that he has been rendered permanently and totally disabled.

Nevertheless, the Court ruled that since a wrongful act was committed against the seafarer due to the sexual harassment he suffered at the hands of  the chief officer, he is entitled to the income for the  unexpired portion of the contract, moral damages, exemplary damages, and attorney’s fee.

The Supreme Court underscored that victims of sexual abuse usually take time before reporting to the proper authorities, more so if they are male as society has made it hard for male victims of sexual harassment to come out and report.

“Our society has often depicted women as being the weaker sex, and the only victims of sexual harassment. It is high-time that this notion is corrected. To consider women as the weaker sex is discriminatory. To think that only women can be victims of sexual harassment is discriminatory against men who have suffered the same plight; men who have been victimized by sexual predators,” the Court said.

Seafarers are exposed to various forms of discrimination, exploitation, sexual harassment, and violence, which may partly be attributed to the confined space on board vessels.

The isolated nature of the ship can increase opportunities for sexual harassment and violence, and can also amplify their negative consequences.

Sexual harassment may take the form of sexist remarks, sexual advances or sex-related behavior. It is a reflection of the power relations between individuals involved where, in most instances, the harasser is an officer occupying a higher rank than the seafarer.

The Court cited  a separate opinion in Garcia v. Drilon, (712 Phil 44, 2013) which recognized  the existence of violence against men and the underreporting of such incidents.

The Court said that “social and cultural expectations on masculinity and male dominance urge men to keep quiet about being a victim, adding to the unique experience of male victims of domestic abuse. This leads to latent depression among boys and men. In a sense, patriarchy while privileging men, also victimizes them”

“There is now more space to believe that portraying only women as victims will not always promote gender equality before the law. It sometimes aggravates the gap by conceding that women have always been dominated by men. In doing so, it renders empowered women invisible; or, in some cases, that men as human beings can also become victims”, the Court added.

The Court further stressed that “it may be said that violence in the context of intimate relationships should not be seen and encrusted as a gender issue, rather it is a power issue. Thus, when laws are not gender-neutral, male victims of domestic violence may also suffer from double victimization first by their abusers and second by the judicial system. 

Incidentally, focusing on women as the victims entrenches some level of heteronormativity. It is blind to the possibility that, whatever moral positions are taken by those who are dominant, in reality intimate relationships can also happen between men.”

At its core, sexual harassment is not an issue of gender but an issue of power.

Atty. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the  Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan  law offices.