"This industry is not safe, and the Coast Guard must do more.” More than a year after a cadet accused her boss of rape, she is still waiting for justice. cnn.com/2023/03/16/us/…

Check out this important story shining a spotlight on sex assault at sea airing on Erin Burnett tonight! w/ Blake Ellis Melanie Hicken & Audrey Ash cnn.com/2023/03/16/us/…

🧵 A year after a cadet accused her boss of rape, she's still waiting for a resolution. Other mariners say the Coast Guard needs to do more to prevent assault. cnn.com/2023/03/16/us/…

From the moment 19-year-old trainee Hope Hicks stepped on board ship for her 100-day stint at sea, the harsh realities of being a woman on a ship full of men hit her. She told CNN her boss, who did not respond to requests for comment, made it clear he wanted to have sex with her.

One evening, she says, her boss pressured her into drinking shot after shot of hard alcohol until she became incapacitated. Then, she says, he raped her.

“I decided that the only thing I could do was to tough it out. No one was going to believe me” She suffered through the next 50 days aboard the ship, working with her alleged rapist every day.

Hicks didn’t know it at the time, but her encounter would launch what some in the shipping industry have likened to a “Maritime Me Too” moment and shine a spotlight on the one agency with the most power to do something about it: the United States Coast Guard.

It is the Coast Guard’s job to ensure that the more than 200,000 merchant mariners do not pose a safety risk. However, it couldn’t point to a single successful sex crime prosecution of a credentialed mariner in the last 30 years 📷: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

One chief mate highlighted in CNN’s report raped his female second mate multiple times, according to a Coast Guard administrative complaint, yet was allowed to keep his credential after a brief suspension and attending sexual harassment training.

CNN also identified more than 25 mariners who held credentials after being convicted of sex crimes including rape, sexual battery, sexual assault, and child molestation.

A CNN investigation found the Coast Guard has minimized the maritime industry’s sexual assault problem for decades and allowed sex offenders to work aboard commercial ships. cnn.com/2023/03/16/us/…

Update: Coast Guard officials filed administrative charges against mariner Edgar Sison for alleged alcohol violations stemming from the rape accusation a day after CNN reported that the agency had not taken any disciplinary measures against Sison cnn.com/2023/03/22/us/…

Excited to be joining Skift as Managing Editor. Rafat Ali, Media Operator & Dad, Jason Clampet and Dennis Schaal have built something truly special. And now I get to cover and shape the future of travel with the smart reporters who know it best!

The Coast Guard buried its report for several years on systemic sexual abuse at the Academy that was largely ignored & only briefed Congress this week when CNN reached out for comment. So please take a moment to read this important reporting Melanie Hicken Blake Ellis Audrey Ash

**CNN EXCLUSIVE** The coast guard has been hiding a damning investigation and report about sexual assault at its academy for years - until CNN recently uncovered it. Pamela Brown on what she learned:

Blake Ellis and I've been asking the Coast Guard about whether Congress had been briefed on this secret investigation years ago --> Officials briefed members of Congress this month. Watch Pamela Brown on TV all day discussing our exclusive report cnn.com/2023/06/30/pol…

A secret investigation into alleged sexual abuse at the US Coast Guard Academy, the training ground for the agency's top officers, uncovered a dark history of rapes, assaults and other serious misconduct being ignored and, at times, covered up by high-ranking officials. 🧵

So proud of our team Melanie Hicken, Blake Ellis Audrey Ash Curt Devine Patricia DiCarlo for our Emmy nomination on the Coast Guard’s Secret

All those political texts hammering your cell phone? Elderly dementia patients are unwittingly fueling political campaigns, losing their life savings. Don't miss our CNN investigation: cnn.com/interactive/20…

"This eventually led him to give about $80,000, leaving him tens of thousands of dollars in debt and his children angry at the campaigns who they say tricked their dad and took advantage of his compromised state of mind." CNN #longreads cnn.com/interactive/20…