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Position on Domestic Violence
President's Message (Jean Aoki)
LWV US Lobby Request
State Board Actions
Education Committee Report (Mary Anne Raywid)
In Memory of Marion Saunders 1908-1998
Vote by Mail Study (Marian Wilkins)
BOE Voter's Guide
Con Con Pamphlet
Volunteers Needed
Hoover on Advisory Committee
League Local News - Hawaii County
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Position on Domestic Violence

Position in Brief

Domestic violence is a crime in the same way that violence against any member of the community is a crime and should be treated as such.

The League of Women Voters supports a coordinated community response to domestic violence and sexual assault that emphasizes victim safety, perpetrator accountability, and prevention education.

Position

Domestic violence is a crime against the community, not a private domestic squabble. It requires a comprehensive coordinated intervention system in which public and private agencies including the police, probation officers, the courts, health care providers, victim advocates and batterers' treatment providers hold the offenders accountable and offer support and protection to their victims.

Hawaii needs a coordinated community response to address the issue of domestic abuse. If the police arrest offenders who are not or cannot be held accountable for their actions, women are endangered by the arrest. If women take the courageous and dangerous step of fleeing from abuse and no shelter is available, they are further endangered.

League supports a coordinated community response in which the public and private agencies work together for these common goals:

  • To identify and respond immediately to every victim in the family with sen-sitive and skilled assistance provided by trained professional or lay advocates;

  • To protect and empower women so that they, in turn, can protect their children;

  • To make it safe for women and children to seek help with services designed to prevent further abuse;

  • To provide adequate funding for victim services;

  • To stop further harm by holding offenders responsible and accountable for their actions; and

  • To ensure that every agency in the community adheres to these standards and works cooperatively to achieve them.

League does not suggest that there is only one model for a coordinated community response in Hawaii. In our community three things could be done immediately:

  1. Re-establish and reaffirm the Ad Hoc Committee for Domestic and Sexual Violence;

  2. Revise the priorities to place victim safety and early intervention in the domestic violence cycle first; and

  3. Create a process whereby the knowledge and experience of advocates and victims can be used to improve services for victims.

Adopted August,1998

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