STAND. COM. REP. NO. 310

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1038

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Government Operations and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1038 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the State Commission on the Status of Women to establish a statewide training program for criminal justice personnel on the state human trafficking laws.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Kauai, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, Domestic Violence Action Center, Hoōla Nā Pua, Pacific Survivor Center, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Susannah Wesley Community Center, Hawaii Women's Coalition, The Sex Abuse Treatment Center, IMUAlliance, Aloha State Association of the Deaf, and five individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Harm Reduction Hawaii, Sex Workers Outreach Project Hawaii, and three individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Community Alliance on Prisons and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that statewide training is necessary for criminal justice personnel to appropriately respond to human trafficking, as they play a pivotal role in the identification of victims and gathering of evidence to build cases for successful prosecution.  Training would teach criminal justice personnel to identify and understand the risk, danger, trauma, and cycles of violence associated with the nuanced complexities of human trafficking.  Hawaii is one of only twelve states that have yet to enact laws to require certain public agencies or private businesses to receive human trafficking training.  This measure allows the State Commission on the Status of Women to coordinate statewide training, which will bring together various agencies and ensure expeditious coordination in identifying, investigating, and adjudicating human trafficking cases.

 

     Your Committees respectfully request that the State Commission on the Status of Women provide definitions for human trafficking and sex trafficking by referring to the federal definitions as a baseline.  Your Committees request the State Commission on the Status of Women bring forward these definitions for consideration as this measure moves through the legislative process.  When developing the training, your Committees request the State Commission on the Status of Women to work in collaboration with all advocates including Harm Reduction Hawaii, to ensure any training developed or considered does not conflate prostitution with human trafficking.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Government Operations and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1038 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Government Operations and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

 

________________________________

LAURA H. THIELEN, Chair