Empowering Women in Maritime - Conference and Call for Papers

To address the gender gap in the maritime, ports, fishing and related industries, the IMO announced that the World Maritime Day theme for 2019 is “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community.” Since being founded in 1983 under the auspices of the IMO, the World Maritime University (WMU), has been committed to the advancement of women in the maritime. In 2019, WMU will host its third International Women’s Conference from April 4-5 on the theme “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community.”

The aim of the Conference is to identify opportunities to encourage women to pursue careers in the maritime and ocean sectors, and to call for action from maritime and other stakeholders in support of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 5 related to gender equality, as a cross-cutting theme.

Today, the maritime and related industries continue to be one of the most male dominated sectors, including seafarers, fishermen, port operators, surveyors, port state control officers and government officials. The under-representation of women in the maritime industry has not significantly changed over the past 25 years. In 1992, the number of women seafarers was estimated as one to two percent of the total seafaring workforce, while the latest 2015 manpower report from BIMCO/ICS indicates that only one percent of seafarers are women. In seafood harvesting, the numbers and employment conditions of women are usually well behind that of men.

Indeed, stereotyping and discrimination against maritime women persist. They affect working conditions, equal access to education and training as well as career opportunities. Gender specific data is scarce. Issues such as women's health gain little attention and good practices regarding the empowerment of women remain barely visible.

The Conference Organizing Committee invites the submission of original research abstracts for consideration to present a paper at the conference. All submissions must be original articles of high quality. Following a peer review, selected papers will be published in the Special Issue of the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs to mark this very special occasion.

Forward-thinking papers that seek to advance achievement of the SDGs are welcome. Topics focused on SDG 5 and gender equality in maritime and related ocean fields are of particular relevance. Submissions are also welcome with a focus on additional SDGs, such as, but not limited to: Goal 1 (end of poverty), Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 7 (affordable and clean energy), Goal 8 (decent work), Goal 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), Goal 12 (responsible consumption and production), Goal 13 (climate action), Goal 14 (life below water), Goal 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), and Goal 17 (partnerships for the goals).

Abstract submissions are due by 30 November 2018 to [email protected].