Gov. Josh Green signed two bills on Tuesday that aim to provide additional protections against human trafficking and domestic violence in Hawaiʻi.
Both bills come from the Women’s Legislative Caucus, a group that Rep. Linda Ichiyama said has been working to address the two issues for many years.
“The work is not finished, and we look forward to continuing,” she said at Tuesday’s signing.
House Bill 1960 was initially proposed to enhance human trafficking awareness and prevention. Under the new law, employers and contractors in the transient accommodation industry — including those running hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and vacation rentals — will be required to train their employees on human trafficking awareness by the end of next year.
They will also need to adopt a prevention policy and to post human trafficking awareness signage.
Standardized training materials that detail how to identify and respond to human trafficking will be available through a new awareness program within the state’s Department of the Attorney General.
House Bill 1959, also signed on Tuesday, extends a five-year pilot program on domestic violence protections. The program is meant to strengthen state and county responses to domestic violence and to hold abusers accountable for their offenses.
“It’s never enough,” Green said. “We have to extend our capacity to prevent domestic violence, and actually, to make sure that anyone we possibly can go after, we have that opportunity.”
As the program continues to run, the state judiciary will be tasked with reporting on its effectiveness and collecting data so that the state can better improve its response to survivors.
The program was originally introduced in 2020. Before then, survivors were often left to wait months before their cases moved forward, according to Sen. Lynn DeCoite.
“Many victims felt they were being victimized not only by their abuser, but also by the court process itself,” DeCoite said, pointing out that the pilot program has since allowed survivors to see faster resolutions.
Offenders are now also required to participate in domestic violence intervention programs and to acknowledge the harm they’ve caused. DeCoite said that these timely consequences have helped reduce repeat offenses.
She added that the signing of both bills holds significant weight for the community.
“Together, these measures are about more than legislation: They’re about our safety, our dignity, justice and ensuring that every woman and every family in Hawaiʻi knows they're seen, supported and protected.”
