(Editor’s Note, obvious bias: The word “Military” occurs 20 times in this report.  The word “Drug” four times, “Methamphetamines” zero times, “Pimp" once, "Foster" three times.)   

(Editor's Note: According to 2010 Census, 32.8% of population age 10-17 identifies as Native Hawaiian alone or in combination.  LINK: See pg 74.  The report cites 1/4 of missing girls identified as Native Hawaiian--but compares that number to a total population number rather than a youth population number.  The apples-to-apples youth population comparison shows NH girls are proportionally LESS likely to be 'missing' than other girls.  Meanwhile some other girls are missing and are ignored in this report.)

HNN: “Rape with 13 year olds appears to be prevalent within the Air Force, Army, and Navy,” said Jabola-Carolus.  (Prevalent?  Khara Jabola-Carolus, executive director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, aka Mrs Kaniela Ing, is literally saying the majority of soldiers are child molesters.  Maybe the point of this crazy talk is to distract from her husband's latest campaign spending violations.)

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HOLOI Ā NALO WĀHINE ‘ŌIWI: Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls Task Force Report

A publication of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in collaboration with Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women, December, 2022

Native Hawaiian women and girls experience violence at rates disproportionate to their population size. Because of a lack of accessible data and a systemic disregard for the safety and wellbeing of Native Hawaiian women and girls on the part of government entities, the scope of the Missing and Murdered Native Hawaiian Women and Girls (MMNHWG) crisis is incomplete. Statistics on MMNHWG are highly limited. Therefore, the statistics presented in this report must be interpreted with the understanding that the true scope of the problem of MMNHWG is much larger than the meager data available can demonstrate at this time.

The lack of data on MMNHWG and on Native Hawaiian women and girls in general may leave many with the perception that MMNHWG is not an issue that warrants further exploration and/or government resources. Such perceptions directly fuel the continued erasure of Native Hawaiian women and girls. The crisis of MMNHWG is often called “the invisible crisis” due to:

1) the lack of recognition that Native Hawaiians are the Indigenous peoples of Hawai‘i and that they continue to experience systemic racism;

2) no concerted effort on the part of the federal or state government to understand and prevent MMNHWG; and

3) the avenues by which Native Hawaiian women and girls go missing or are murdered is complex and intertwined with persistent historical inequities that many people with legislative power fail to recognize are continuing to affect the condition of Native Hawaiians today.

For this report, the term “Native Hawaiian Women and Girls Violence” or “NHWG violence,” includes the underlying social, economic, cultural, institutional, and historical causes that contribute to the ongoing violence and systemic erasure of Native Hawaiian women and girls. “Missing” for this report is broadly defined as Native Hawaiian girls (persons under the age of 18) who are deemed as “runaways” by law enforcement, meaning they voluntarily or involuntarily fled from their parent/guardian and may or may not return. Missing also includes Native Hawaiian women and girls whose whereabouts are unknown, including women and girls who are missing as a result of being trafficked and/or trapped in the military-prostitution complex.

“Murdered” for this report is defined as Native Hawaiian women and girls who are killed through violent physical means. It also includes Native Hawaiian women and girls who died under suspicious and/or complex circumstances such as drug overdose and suicide. These definitions are aligned with how other Indigenous nations are defining violence within the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement. These definitions also allow for the accuracy of exploring and naming the specific mechanisms of the MMNHWG crisis such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, suicide, poverty, and disenfranchisement from the land. Expanding the frame of exploration of MMNHWG beyond governmental definitions of missing and murdered creates space to center the experiences of survivors and move toward community healing in a way that is accurate and respectful.

21% of Hawai‘i’s total population (N= 1,441,553) identifies as Native Hawaiian (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021). 10.2% of the total population of Hawai‘i identifies as a Native Hawaiian female, with 47.6% of this population identified as females under the age of 18 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021).

∞ More than a quarter (1/4) of missing girls in Hawai‘i are Native Hawaiian (JJIS, 2001- 2021).

(Editor's Note: According to 2010 Census, 32.8% of population age 10-17 identifies as Native Hawaiian alone or in combination.  LINK: See pg 74.  The report cites 1/4 of missing girls identified as Native Hawaiian.  This shows NH girls are proportionally LESS likely to be 'missing' than other girls.)

∞ Hawai‘i has the eighth highest rate of missing persons per capita in the nation at 7.5 missing people per 100,000 residents (Kynston, 2019).

∞ The average profile of a missing child: 15 year old, female, Native Hawaiian, missing from O‘ahu (MCCH, 2022).

∞ The majority (43%) of sex trafficking cases are Kānaka Maoli girls trafficked in Waikīkī, O‘ahu (Amina, 2022).

∞ 38% (N= 74) of those arrested for soliciting sex from a thirteen-year-old online through Operation Keiki Shield are active-duty military personnel (Hawai‘i Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, 2022).

∞ In 2021, the Missing Child Center Hawai‘i (MCCH) assisted law enforcement with 376 recoveries of missing children. These cases are only 19% of the estimated 2,000 cases of missing children in Hawai‘i each year (MCCH, 2021).

∞ On Hawai‘i Island, Kānaka Maoli children ages 15-17, represent the highest number of missing children’s cases, with the most children reported missing in area code 96720, Hilo (Hawai‘i Island Police Department, 2022).

(Editor's Note: According to 2010 Census, 44.6% of Hawaii County population age 10-17 identifies as Native Hawaiian alone or in combination. LINK: See pg 74.)

∞ From 2018-2021, there were 182 cases of missing Kānaka Maoli girls on Hawai‘i Island, higher than any other racial group (N= 1,175) (Hawai‘i Island Police Department, 2022).

∞ 57% of participants served through the Mana‘olana Program at Child & Family Services are Native Hawaiian females who have experienced human trafficking (Mana‘olana, CFS, 2021-2022).

read … Full Report

AP: Report: Native Hawaiians hit by missing and murdered scourge 

HTH: Report: More than 25% of missing girls in state are Native Hawaiian 

SA: More data needed on missing, murdered Native Hawaiian women  

SA Editorial:  “there’s a lack of precision on where problems lie”  

BIN: Neighbor islands know little about murdered, missing Native Hawaiian women and girls  

HNN: Military faces new questions amid discussion about gender-based violence in Hawaii

KITV: Hirono, advocates discuss ways to fight violence against Native Hawaiian women, girls