What must a cruise ship's medical staff provide after a sexual assault?

Last updated October 4, 2026.

Federal law sets specific duties. On ships covered by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, the owner must keep medications to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and equipment for a forensic medical exam on board, and must have qualified medical staff available at all times who can promptly perform that exam on request (46 U.S.C. 3507(d)). The survivor must also get free, immediate and private access to law enforcement, an attorney and a victim hotline.

If you are reading this soon after an assault, your health and safety come first, and you decide what happens next. This page sets out what the ship owed you or your family member under federal law, how the medical information is protected, and how those duties connect to a civil claim. Our page on assault and onboard crime explains the civil claim itself, and our overview of cruise injury claims covers related questions.

How should care work on board, step by step?

Section 3507(d) and (e) describe what a covered ship must be ready to do. In order, that means:

1. Medical staff available at all times. The ship must have credentialed medical staff on board at all times who can assist after an alleged sexual assault.
2. An exam on request. The staff must be trained in forensic sexual assault examination and able to perform the exam promptly on request, evaluating the patient for trauma, providing care and preserving evidence.
3. Preventive medication. The staff must be able to provide proper treatment, including anti-retroviral and other medications that may prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
4. Written findings. The ship must prepare written documentation of the exam findings, signed by the patient, give it to the patient and keep it.
5. Private contact with help. The patient must have free and immediate access to contact information for local law enforcement, the FBI, the Coast Guard, the nearest U.S. consulate or embassy and the National Sexual Assault Hotline or another victim advocacy hotline, plus a private telephone line and internet-connected computer to confidentially reach law enforcement, an attorney and support services.
6. Confidentiality. The exam information and any counseling information stay confidential from the cruise line and its lawyers without the patient's written approval, with narrow exceptions.

Which ships do these rules cover?

Section 3507 applies to a passenger vessel that is authorized to carry 250 or more passengers, has overnight accommodations for 250 or more passengers, and is on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States (3507(k)). It does not apply to vessels operated by the federal government or owned and operated by a state.

The medication rule was amended by a law signed December 18, 2025 (Pub. L. 119-60, sec. 7343), which added that supplies must take into consideration the length of the voyage and the number of passengers and crew members the vessel can accommodate. The same law added a requirement for an electronic record of crew access to passenger cabins; see the safety rules federal law imposes on cruise ships.

Is the exam information kept from the cruise line?

Yes, as a rule. Under section 3507(e), the master must treat all information about the examination as confidential, so that no medical information is released to the cruise line or its legal representatives without the prior knowledge and written approval of the patient, or of the next of kin if the patient cannot authorize it. Information from post-assault counseling or other support services gets the same protection.

The exceptions are narrow: information other than medical findings needed for the ship's crime reporting duties, information needed to secure the safety of passengers or crew, and information given to law enforcement officials investigating.

What changes the answer?

Who the attacker was

As the Eleventh Circuit described in Yusko (2021), it held in an earlier case that cruise lines are strictly liable when a crew member sexually assaults a passenger, regardless of notice (Doe v. Celebrity Cruises, 2004). Our page on a cruise line's responsibility for crew members' acts explains the difference between that and other claims. When another passenger is responsible, claims usually focus on the cruise line's security, monitoring and response.

What the ticket says about emotional distress

A cruise ticket may limit some claims for emotional distress, but federal law says that exception does not limit liability in a case involving sexual harassment, sexual assault or rape (46 U.S.C. 30527(b)(2)). See whether a cruise ticket can limit what the cruise line pays.

Whether the ship followed the rules

A failure to have medications, equipment or trained staff, or a breach of confidentiality, can bring federal civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day, up to $50,000 for a continuing violation, and willful violations can be criminal (3507(h)). How such a failure bears on a survivor's own claim depends on the facts.

Whether the assault was reported to law enforcement

Sexual offenses under the listed federal statutes are crimes the cruise line must report to the FBI. Read who investigates a crime on a cruise ship.

Whether care itself was negligent

Poor medical care can be its own claim. Our page on medical negligence at sea explains how claims about shipboard care work.

What does this look like in practice?

For example, imagine a passenger who is assaulted in a cabin late at night and goes to the ship's medical center early the next morning. She asks for a forensic exam. A physician who meets the statute's credentials performs it, offers preventive medication and prepares written findings, which she signs and receives a copy of. The center gives her the contact information for the FBI and a victim hotline, and a private phone line to use.

Later, a cruise line claims representative asks for her medical information. Because of section 3507(e), the medical center cannot release it to the cruise line without her written approval. Before leaving the ship, she sends a written request for copies of video that may show the assault, which the cruise line must provide on written request for a civil action unless law enforcement or a court order prevents it. The decisions about reporting and about a civil claim remain hers.

This example is hypothetical. It describes what the law requires, not a past case or a result.

What mistakes happen after an assault at sea?

• Not asking for the exam or the written findings. The ship must perform the exam on request and give the patient signed documentation.
• Signing a release of medical information without reading it. The confidentiality protection depends on your written approval; read anything before you sign.
• Not requesting video in writing. The right to copies of video that may show a sexual assault is triggered by a written request. See how to get the cruise line's video before it disappears.
• Feeling pressure to decide everything on board. Reporting, counseling and any civil claim can proceed on your timetable, within the legal deadlines.
• Losing track of the ticket's deadlines. See how to give a cruise line written notice of your claim.

What can you do this week?

1. Get medical care and keep copies of all medical records and the signed exam findings.
2. Write down what you remember, when you are ready, with times, places and names.
3. Send the cruise line a written request for copies of video that may show the assault.
4. Keep any messages, key-card information and receipts from the voyage.
5. Reach out to a victim advocacy hotline or counselor for support, whatever you decide about legal steps.
6. Speak confidentially with a lawyer about deadlines before they pass.

Frequently asked questions

Does the ship have to have a doctor on board?

The statute requires medical staff available at all times with a current physician's or registered nurse's license and specified emergency medicine experience or board certification, trained to perform forensic sexual assault exams.

Can the cruise line see my exam results?

Not without your prior knowledge and written approval, except for non-medical information needed for crime reporting, safety, or law enforcement investigations (3507(e)).

Do I have to report to the FBI to get care?

No. The statute's medical duties are not conditioned on a police report. The ship must give you access to contact information and a private line so you can decide.

Can I get the ship's video?

On written request, the cruise line must give you or your legal representative copies of video in which you are a subject and that may provide evidence of a sexual assault in a civil action, unless law enforcement or a court order prevents it (3507(b)(3)(B)).

Does it matter if the assault happened in my cabin?

It can. The owner must restrict which crew members can enter passenger staterooms and when, and since the December 2025 amendment must keep a system that electronically records the date, time and identity of each crew member entering each stateroom (3507(f)(1)). Those records can show who entered a cabin and when.

What if the ship sailed from a foreign port?

The statute applies to covered ships on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States (3507(k)). For voyages that never touch a U.S. port, other rules may apply; see claims by non-U.S. passengers and on non-U.S. voyages.

What if the survivor is a child?

The same medical duties apply, and a parent or guardian generally acts for the child in any claim. Read what is different about a claim when a child is hurt on a cruise.

How are these incidents counted?

Sexual assault reports to the FBI appear in the Department of Transportation's quarterly cruise statistics. See where to find official cruise ship crime statistics.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Contact a lawyer about your specific situation.