Report : High number of Native Hawaiian women murdered

A new report out found a disproportionate number of Native Hawaiian women and girls missing and murdered, reports Hawaii News Now.

A special task force found those women and girls were also subjected to sex trafficking, sex abuse, and domestic violence.

“I ask us all to start with our ohana to have these conversations not be afraid to speak of it because silence continues to shame,” said Dr. Dayna Schultz, a Native Hawaiian community advocate.

According to West Hawaii Today, more than one out of four missing girls 17 and younger are Native Hawaiian, although they make up just slightly more than 10 percent of the population.

They also make up 43 percent of sex trafficking cases on Oahu.

“Online predation that involves military men seeking sexual encounters to put it very politely, it’s rape with 13 year olds appears to be prevalent within the Air Force, Army, and Navy,” said Khara Jabola-Carolus, executive director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women.

“The spirits of our stolen sisters are slipping through the pukas in our system. This report is a modest step in addressing violence against Kanaka Maoli women and girls,” said principal investigator Nikki Cristobal, co-founder and executive director of Kamawaelualani, a Kauai nonprofit corporation, to West Hawaii Today.

A second report from the task force is planned.

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