What Safe Harbour is not

Over the past few weeks, as Safe Harbour has grown, I’ve had to think much more deeply about exactly what this event is, who it is for, and what we are trying to achieve here for our public messaging.

Safe Harbour is not a domestic violence rally. Domestic means home. Yachts are usually our place of work or for owner’s and charter guests, its their time for relaxation and play. Domestic and family violence overlaps to Safe Harbour as most of us have homes and of course we are part of the wider community. However, Safe Harbour was created to address something more specific to the community I actually work within every day: Gendered violence, harassment, intimidation and discrimination on the water, within the maritime industry AND beyond. Focused on women because we are the predominant recipients of these issues, however I extend that same respect and courtesy to our lgbtq community and our friends who are people of colour. Everyone.

Recently, a concern was raised with me abobut whether holding an event involving multimillion-dollar yachts could be insensitive when there are women experiencing domestic violence, homelessness and extreme financial disadvantage. I've thought about that criticism very carefully and I've come back to a very simple conclusion:

Women do not lose their right to safety because the location happens to be a luxury yacht.

The value of the vessel tells us absolutely nothing about the value, financial position, vulnerability or lived experience of the woman standing on its deck. Just because she may be abused on a multi-million dollar boat, does not mean she’s not entitled to rights. To overlook what happens to women and the more vulnerable amongst us on yachts, is to further oppress women. 

*Additionally and without using the most vulnerable amongst us for exploitation (which I've also been accused of), it might be news to some, but these yachts are not uncommonly used by people who are unhoused. Thats all Ill say about that.

Own it as a rally FOR women.

Repeatedly I’ve had people describe Safe Harbour as “great for women”, and that I should own it as the womens’ rights rally that it is. However, I never envisioned Safe Harbour as a women’s rights rally.

When I was attacked outside Elizabeth Bay Marina at 10am in the morning with an umbrella by a 50 year old man, it was my partner, our diver and two local men who stepped in and held him down until the police arrived. He was charged with assault and intimidation, and I was left to check around every corner and wonder how safe I really am. It was my community’s response to that man attacking me, that made me feel confident that if I said publicly “this is what happens to us sometimes” they would come out in droves to protect and support us. I want to platform the men that I respect, allowing others to look up to them, observing what healthy leadership, masculinity and relationships with women look like.

The headlining vessel of Safe Harbour is a multi-million dollar vessel which is being provided by one of our clients, in a significant show of solidarity for myself and other women.

Safe Harbour will be headlined by two women (myself and Bridget Lean) who have been hurt, driving a multi-mllion dollar vessel followed by our community in our Harbour. That's powerful.

We are a community and we are a niche, we understand each other because we all have a shared love of being on the water and we know the struggles that sometimes come alongside this lifestyle. Our micro-culture is unique to us. Only we can understand the intricacies of the culture and how we can create positive change within it that supports all of us.

Should an event addressing gendered violence include men who may not have always treated women perfectly?

For me, the answer lies in understanding what Safe Harbour is trying to accomplish. This isn't intended to be a room full of people congratulating ourselves because we've always got everything right. If we are to achieve cultural change, that requires conversations with people who disagree with us or have behaved in ways we don’t agree with. Conversation with people from different walks of life, who may view things differently than you. If we don’t make the effort to have the difficult discussions about how we can do better, we are not going to make change.

Interestingly the heavy conversations are coming out already. I planned to discuss gendered violence and how we can do better as an industry on the day of the event. However, as we’ve been inviting our colleagues and fellow businesses to join us, the discussions have been fascinating, revealing and probably the most important.

The maritime industry is made up mostly of men. I work with them all day, every day. I am platforming these men to speak, because I believe in them. I love working in this industry, that's why I am here. I love working with my colleagues and clients and collaborating to bring a vessel to its greatest condition because we’ve used our individual strengths and skill sets. That desired product requires diversity and differing points of view.

If we want the culture within our industry to change to be safer for everyone, we all need to be part of that conversation — as yacht owners, skippers, managers, tradespeople, employers, colleagues, fathers, partners and friends.

I don't believe advocacy can only involve people with perfect histories, perfect politics and perfect understanding of all the layers. Sometimes advocacy is speaking to the people who already understand. Sometimes it's speaking to the people who don't. The most important person listening is the one who has never previously stopped to consider how their behaviour, their silence, or the culture around them has affected somebody else.

Why a flotilla?

Because we're maritime.

A flotilla is, quite simply, a group of vessels travelling or gathering together.

We're not borrowing the ocean as a backdrop for a cause that has nothing to do with it.

The water is where this conversation belongs.

For many of us, these vessels are our workplaces. For many people in this industry, the line between workplace and home becomes even more complicated because they live aboard the vessels on which they work.

Safe Harbour was deliberately conceived as a flotilla because there is something incredibly powerful about the maritime community using the very vessels on which these conversations need to happen to make its position visible.

Privilege doesn't have to be hidden. It can be used.

There is another uncomfortable word in all of this: privilege. Yes, there will be extraordinarily expensive vessels participating in Safe Harbour. There will hopefully also be little boats, commercial vessels, sailing boats, tenders and everything in between. I think people with platforms, resources, influence and access should be encouraged to use them for positive change.

If somebody owns a multimillion-dollar yacht and is prepared to put that vessel behind a public statement saying women deserve to be safe on our waterways and within our industry, I want them there. If an influential man in maritime wants to stand beside women and listen, I want him there. If someone has previously failed to understand these issues but genuinely wants to learn, I want them in the conversation. Safe Harbour isn't asking anybody to prove moral purity before they're allowed to care. We're asking our community to show up.

What Safe Harbour means to me

Safe Harbour will continue to evolve as more people become involved. There will be disagreements around language, politics, representation and the best way to create change. There are some principles I don't want to lose along the way.

Gendered violence doesn't become less serious because it happens on a beautiful yacht.

Ultimately, it's about creating a maritime culture where everybody can go to work, step onto a vessel, walk down a marina or head out onto the water and reasonably expect to be treated with dignity and respect.  That's the harbour I want us to create and protect.

Too political – Not political enough

I have a duty to my business and my clients to keep my politics private and separate. In a professional setting, we are not able to express our views freely all the time. We all have a broad range of opinions and in order to work together successfully, I feel that includes leaving politics aside.

I’ve been criticised for not aligning with a political side, and I’m sure Ill be criticised at some point for being too political. My hope is that everyone agrees that women and the most vulnerable amongst us deserve to feel safe and to be kept safe. To be respected and treated equally.

Safe Harbour is political in the sense that we want change. We want safer maritime workplaces, greater accountability and a culture in which gendered violence, harassment and discrimination are challenged. However, cultural change cannot belong to one political party or ideology. If you believe people should be safe on the water, you're welcome in the conversation.

Alice Lloyd