Honolulu to finally have a family justice centre

The plans for a center aimed at family justice was announced by city prosecutor Peter Carlisle who said funds of $400,000 had been secured through federal grants for the planning of the center, the training of staff as well as rent and equipment.

He pointed out to Honolulu news media at a press conference that the center would not be a government-run entity so much as a space for the provision of services by already existing non-governmental organizations, though it is thought that there will be a government appointed director to oversee the running of the centre.

Domestic violence has long been a social ill in Hawaii and Honolulu is no different. What’s shocking is the lack of up-to-date statistics available on the issue, a search for domestic violence on the US Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics was unable to yield any results specific to Honolulu or even Hawaii.

In 1999, however, there were 8013 reported cases of domestic violence in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (HSCADV), while in 2009 AA Boomers stated that reported cases of domestic violence in the United States in 2009 had risen by 7000 from the previous year to 79,874.

This means that even if the instances of domestic violence have remained the same, which the HSCADV would dispute, as they state that the crime rate is increasing, the state would still have a domestic violence rate several times higher than the national average. Honolulu as the capital of the state of Hawaii has a responsibility for redressing the issue then.

In recent years attempts have been made by the state and various non-governmental organizations. Domestic Violence Awareness Month is October and last year a number of organizations came together and held a march and carried out various initiatives aimed at educating communities about the resources available to them.

Yet there has not been any real decrease in the number of cases of domestic violence being reported, at least no decrease or progress has been announced in the Honolulu news media or by any of the groups involved in helping victims.

Part of this problem is Hawaii’s isolation from the rest of the country. Many safe houses and counseling centers available on the mainland are not accessible in Hawaii. Therefore the setting aside of funds to build a Family Justice Centre in Honolulu is a huge step in the right direction according to experts in the field.

“This is phenomenal news,” said Dara Carlin, a survivor of, and advocate against, domestic violence. She told Honolulu news provider Honolulu Advertiser that there was currently a shocking lack of coordination of services in the state, with victims being shuttled from pillar to post in order to get medical help, shelter, legal advice etc.

This is where the new center will make a huge difference as it will provide everything under one roof. Studies of other cities have shown such centers to be highly effective. In San Diego, for example, the domestic violence rate dropped by 30% in the decades after a similar center was built.

The plan is for the center to be tailored to the needs of the community and will not be a government-run entity but will rather be a space from which the various agencies already in existence can provide their services.

Therefore, medical groups, legal aid representatives, police representatives etcetera will be readily available in the centre so that a victim of domestic abuse can find shelter, get medical treatment if needed and file a restraining order and initiate legal proceedings, as well as obtain legal advice, all at the same time under the same roof.

“It's a done deal,” Peter Carlisle said. The centre will be opened within the next two years.