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When you’ve been victimized at sea
Sexual assaults and violent crime occur far more often than passengers are led to believe. Sexual assaults are one of the most underreported crimes on cruise ships. Carnival Cruise Line has consistently reported the most incidents of sexual assault since 2016. Of the 35 sexual assault cases reported by cruise lines for the third quarter of 2019, 20 were reported on Carnival ships, according to statistics from the FBI.
Being the victim of a violent crime is a terrifying and stressful experience, often leaving the innocent victim with scars that can be seen, as well as those that cannot. What the victim needs is a strong legal advocate on his or her side to receive justice and compensation for his or her damages. There is a wide range of crimes that are committed on the high seas, but the vast majority of the crimes that are reported to the US Department of Transportation involve cruise ship sexual assault.
Types of Cruise Ship Sexual Assault:
Unlike accident victims, crime victims that are physically and or mentally injured by cruise ship staff are entitled to pursue their case against the cruise line in strict liability. In practice, that means the cruise line is legal responsible for their crew’s crimes against a passenger.
In other words, the cruise ship employer cannot defend itself by claiming it had no way of knowing any better and is a critical tool made available to the victims to secure justice in the civil justice system.
While the criminal justice system provides punishment for the offenders and sometimes victim restitution, the civil justice courts offer additional avenues for victims to be made whole through compensation. When crime victims pursue justice in the civil court system, it is often complex giving the multinational aspects of the laws in play and the citizenship of the different parties and witnesses.
Often, victims are required to relive some of the most harrowing experiences of their lives which is traumatic in and of itself. In addition, since the victim is compensated on the basis of the damage caused to the victim including the amount of physical and psychological harm, there is only so much that can be done to completely avoid the bad memories.
The attorneys at Delgado Trial Attorneys have represented all types of crime victims and we offer clients our experience to empower them to become whole again. We recognize that every crime victim is different but they all share a right to justice and are entitled to hold the at fault parties accountable. We make sure the victims understand that they are empowered to tell their story and get compensation for what they have been through.
Crimes on cruise ships can be difficult to pursue because many of the incidents occur in international waters and are governed under maritime law. Often by the time federal or local police can reach the ship and start an investigation, the cruise ship has already completed their own investigation.
Legislation is continually being developed to protect the rights of passengers on cruise ships. Many passengers do not realize the lack of security or safety measures on cruise ships. For example, security cameras, while required in certain areas of the ships, are not required in passenger corridors where many sexual assaults and other crimes occur. Many times, the security personnel on ships do not receive formal security training and do not even have a security license.
In 2010, Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) to improve security and safety on cruise ships. The CVSSA requires the reporting of crimes occurring on cruise ships to the FBI, including most violent crimes, homicide, kidnapping, and sexual assault. However, what is reported to the FBI are actual crimes, and not those that were ‘alleged.’ As a result, fewer crimes have been reported to the public than to the FBI in recent years.
Congress later introduced the Cruise Passenger Protection Act (CPPA), which was meant to strengthen passenger safety measures on cruise ships. The legislation builds off previous legislation, including adding security and surveillance on ships, having trained physicians on board, and holding cruise lines accountable for crimes occurring on their vessels at sea. This legislation requires cruise lines to notify the FBI of a crime report within four hours, to report any incident that occurs in a U.S. port to authorities before the vessel leaves, and to report allegations to the U.S. Consulate in the next port of call.
Major cruise lines owe their passengers a duty of care. This duty of care includes: (1) providing a reasonable amount of security against physical harm, including criminal activity and assault; and (2) they must ensure that the ship and the equipment are in reasonable working condition, and its crew, are adequately trained to perform their assigned tasks respectfully. However, if the assault was committed by the vessel’s crew, the cruise line may be strictly liable for their criminal conduct in the civil justice system.
Time is of the essence, when filing a lawsuit against a major cruise line like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebrity Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, etc. These claims must be filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Passengers have just one year from the date of the incident to file a claim. It is important that you hire an attorney experienced in handling cruise injuries in order to successfully recover damages to compensate for an injury sustained while aboard a cruise ship.
Regardless of the cause, injuries sustained on a cruise ship or in a port of call must be thoroughly documented. Immediately after the injury or assault occurs, doing the following can help maximize your recovery:
The Miami-based maritime personal injury attorneys at Delgado Trial Attorneys possess a skill set that few other cruise ship crime victim attorneys can claim.
Their diverse professional backgrounds and experience including Raul G. Delgado II’s extensive experience defending insurance companies and the major cruise lines which included preparing their trial strategies for years before beginning to represent accident victims in Florida and cruise ship passengers and crew members injured because of negligence.
Coupled with Raul G. Delgado’s 44 years of personal injury experience fighting on behalf of injured accident victims throughout Florida, Delgado Trial Attorneys offers a combination of experience in all types of cruise ship personal injuries unlike any of their competitors.
Above all else, it is this diverse experience which allows our attorneys to effectively strategize and advocate for every client we represent. We have handled all types of cruise ship passenger accidents over the years with a focus on slip, trip and falls, medical malpractice, FlowRider accidents, sexual assaults, Death on the High Seas, and more. Contact our law firm today for a free case evaluation. Virtual sign-ups available.
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