STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3826

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.R. No. 218

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Judiciary, to which was referred S.R. No. 218 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO DEVELOP LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, QUEER, PLUS SPECIFIC TRAINING GUIDELINES FOR INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AGENCIES THAT SERVE AND ASSIST LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, QUEER, PLUS SURVIVORS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Request the Department of Human Services to develop lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus (LGBTQ+) specific training guidelines for state agencies that serve and assist survivors of intimate partner violence;

(2) Request the Department of Human Services to obtain input for the training guidelines from relevant advocates and professionals; and

(3) Request state agencies that serve and assist survivors of intimate partner violence to receive and implement the training guidelines developed by the Department of Human Services to better address the needs of LGBTQ+ survivors.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services and Department of Health.

Your Committees find that LGBTQ+ individuals experience intimate partner violence at a higher rate than heterosexual individuals. According to the "Hawai‘i Sexual and Gender Minority Health Report" issued in 2017, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth were approximately twice as likely to have experienced dating violence as their heterosexual peers. According to the "Hawai‘i Sexual and Gender Minority Health Report" issued in 2018, fifty percent of transgender youth in Hawaii had reported "being raped or assaulted by a romantic partner". Furthermore, LGBTQ+ individuals may have fewer resources to escape the harmful relationship due to families and communities who reject them. In addition, LGBTQ+ individuals are less likely to report the violence or seek assistance due to barriers that are LGBTQ+ specific, such as social stigma that comes with being a sexual and gender minority and well-meaning but misinformed service providers who try to assist them in heterosexist ways that are harmful to LGBTQ+ individuals. This measure will help state agencies that serve and assist survivors of intimate partner violence to better understand and attend to the unique circumstances and needs of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Amending its title for clarity; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 218, as amended herein, and recommend its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 218, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair