Advocates join forces to help sexual assault victims

A collaborative effort has been formed among Honolulu prosecutors, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center Hawaii, the Children’s Justice Center, Child Welfare Services and the Honolulu Police Department to help victims of sexual assault.

Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm said the prosecutor’s office won 135 convictions in sex assault cases a year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The assaults are often committed by people close to their victims, Alm said, not by “a stranger jumping out of the bushes.”

“This is a huge problem in our community,” Alm said Monday at a news conference.

Alm said 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men will be victims of sexual assault, and 80% of sexual assault cases are committed by people who are close to their victims.

“No offense, but that’s the mother’s boyfriend, that’s uncle, that’s grandpa,” Alm said.

To stop sexual assault “it’s going to take getting the word out, and it’s going to take talking about it when it may be an uncomfortable subject at times,” he said.

Deputy Prosecutor Rochelle Vidinha, who leads a team of prosecutors dealing with sexual assault cases, said her team is on call seven days a week to respond to reports of sexual assault.

“While we seek to achieve justice for the victims and to hold defendants or suspects accountable, we also want to ensure these cases are handled in a way that doesn’t re-traumatize the victims,” Vidinha said.

When asked whether sexual assault cases by priests, teachers, families and police officers are treated the same way, Vidinha said, “Regardless of the status of the offenders, whether it’s a police officer or not, our team has prosecuted police officers. If they committed the crime, we treat it exactly the same way.”

Even though there’s heightened distrust between the community and police officers, Vidinha encouraged victims of sexual assault to contact the Sex Abuse Treatment Center Hawaii.

“We want to stress to the community that there’s a system in place and that we all care,” Vidinha said. “While the system is not perfect, we want to ensure that the victims are supported and receive the care they need.”

Cindy Shimomi-Saito, executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center Hawaii, said her organization has a 24-hour hotline and other services for victims dealing with trauma.

“The impact of sex assault is so complex,” Shimomi- Saito said. “It impacts what people say, how they respond, how they remember and how they disclose the details of what happened to them.”

Support hotline

Victims of sexual assault can call the Sex Abuse Treatment Center Hawaii’s 24-hour hotline at 524-7273.