Also watch Black Sails.

  • Mardoniush [she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Of the 1700s? Yes, I'd say that the pirates of the West Indies (as opposed to say, the Corsairs) would have a lower rate of rape than that of merchant or naval sailors.

    Those law codes weren't just out of the goodness of their piratical hearts, women on ships, coerced or otherwise were a potential source of conflict that couldn't be solved easily by standard spoils systems.

    Pirate ships had substantially more democratic governance than other vessals, operating similarly to an anarchist militia, which meant simple top down control of things didn't work either. So the codes set down what simply was not allowed and if you didnt agree you could find another ship.