STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1601
Honolulu, Hawaii
,
2021
RE: H.R. No. 12
H.D.
1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on
Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.R. No. 12, H.D. 1,
entitled:
"HOUSE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN TO CONVENE A TASK FORCE TO STUDY MISSING AND
MURDERED NATIVE HAWAIIAN WOMEN AND GIRLS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is
to request the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women to convene a task
force to study missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls.
Your committee received testimony in support of this measure
from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and
Hawaii, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!, and two individuals.
Your Committee finds
that indigenous women and girls have a greater risk of becoming victims of violence
than any other population in the United States and are particularly vulnerable
to sex trafficking and other forms of violent crimes. Your Committee
further finds that in a 2018 survey of victims of sex trafficking conducted by
the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women in partnership with Arizona
State University, seventy-seven percent of the victims were Native Hawaiian; a
subsequent study conducted in 2019 found that sixty-four percent of the victims
were Native Hawaiian. Additionally, your Committee finds that from
2017 to 2019, one out of every three child sex trafficking victims reported to
the Child Welfare Services child sex trafficking hotline were Native Hawaiian,
and ninety-five percent of the victims were girls.
As affirmed by the
record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian
Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent
and purpose of H.R. No. 12, H.D. 1, and recommends its adoption.
Respectfully
submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian
Affairs,
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MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair
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