SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Gender equality, as enshrined in SDG 5, is today a guiding principle of the international community; however, it still needs to be introduced and fully used in a number of sectors. Shipping, one of the oldest human activities at sea, has long been a male-dominated activity. In this context, the IMO, as the main international actor regulating shipping, has a major role to play. The chapter looks into the legal framework that allows the IMO to innovate and mainstream gender equality in international regulation of shipping, as well as to the concrete steps that the Organization has taken so far. These include mainly training and, more recently, awareness-raising; normative action has started only in recent months. Suggestions are made for ways forward to fully exploit the IMO’s potential to ensure gender equality in the shipping sector.