STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1533

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.C.R. No. 4

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 4, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THE FIRST WEEK IN FEBRUARY AS HAWAII TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION WEEK,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to designate the first week in February as Hawaii Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and one individual.  Written testimony presented to your Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that one in three teenagers report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked, or physically hurt by their intimate partner.  Your Committee further finds that women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four experience the highest per capita rates of domestic violence.  Becoming a teenager should be an exciting time of intellectual and emotional growth, and yet instead teenagers may experience violence at the hands of their partner.  Through education and community discussion, our youth may have the opportunity to break the silence surrounding this issue.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 4, H.D. 1, and recommends its adoption.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

 

 

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair