Two bills would allow nonresidents such as Nazeehah Khan — formerly of Ewa Beach — to apply for temporary restraining orders in Hawaii cases of sexual assault or domestic abuse to offer them a legal layer of protection while in the islands.
Khan, 29, grew up in Ewa Beach, studied political science at the University of
Hawaii and now lives in Sacramento, Calif. She was visiting her extended family
in January 2022 in Ewa Beach when she was sexually assaulted. She then returned to California, where she thought she would be safe.
Khan is now scared of returning to her family home because she cannot get a temporary restraining order against her attacker, whom she declined to identify or characterize whether she knows him.
“I, personally, as a survivor — I haven’t been back to Oahu since my assault because I don’t feel safe going back,” Khan told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “And instead of protecting me as a survivor, our laws are protecting perpetrators.”
House Bill 752 and its identically worded companion, Senate Bill 1267, were introduced on Khan’s
behalf.
Khan started a petition for the bills, which currently have over 35,000
signatures.
After hearing about Hawaii’s restrictions, Rep. Linda Ichiyama (D, Fort Shafter Flats-Salt Lake-Pearl Harbor) introduced HB 752.
“When Nazeehah brought to my attention that our restraining orders statuses are limited only to residents and that has been a barrier for her to obtain a protective order, I thought, ‘Well, let’s have a discussion and see what we can do to
address it,’” Ichiyama said.
Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault are often re-traumatized by the judicial system, Ichiyama said.
“The system’s response leaves the victim feeling powerless or helpless and without any recourse,” Ichiyama said.
Rep. David Tarnas (D, Hawi-Waimea-Waikoloa) chairs the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and plans to give HB 752 a hearing.
Despite her fears, Khan plans to testify in person because she believes the issue is important for victims and future victims.
The companion bill, SB 1267, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Hilo-Pepeekeo) introduced SB 1267 with the support of 10 colleagues because “this is an issue that’s not going to just go away.”
SB 1267 could help the Honolulu Police Department and prosecutors “because then at least they can say, ‘Yes, we can carry this issue as part of bringing charges,’” Inouye said.
Twenty-three states already allow nonresidents to file a temporary restraining order, and 13 states allow all provisions in the proposed Hawaii bills, Khan said.
Sen. Angus McKelvey (D, West Maui-Maalaea-South Maui) helped introduced SB 1267 but said there are legal mechanical issues that can be addressed in the Judiciary committee.
He also worries there could be jurisdictional issues between separate courts in Hawaii and on the mainland.
But, McKelvey said, “Policy-wise, I think it’s a very good bill because it could provide a very important tool to visitors, to returning students and others who need to get a protective TRO issued and they’re not in the original jurisdiction of the court to where they reside.”
After the assault, Khan said she did not immediately call 911 because she was not sure of her options and experienced “internal victim blaming.”
Instead, she flew back to California where she then called local police, filed a police report and petitioned for a restraining order.
“That restraining order led me through a four-month court case, and at the end of that court case, the judge decided that she didn’t have jurisdiction because the defendant was a resident of Hawaii,” Khan said. “She said that my jurisdiction would be in Hawaii. So I went to Hawaii for the
restraining order, and they couldn’t even petition for a restraining order there because … only residents are able to petition for a restraining order.”
Looking back, Khan wishes she’d called the Honolulu police soon after her attack.
“I thought it would have been possible for me to do it later (call the police),” Khan said, “until I tried to do it later and I had to deal with all this pushback.”
The result is that Hawaii laws are inadvertently protecting perpetrators, Khan said.
She created a campaign called Restraining Orders Without Borders and is simultaneously urging Congress to pass uniform, national legislation on temporary restraining orders.
There was a time when living in separate states “gave the illusion of safety,” Khan said.
“But that’s not the case anymore; I mean, travel is so accessible,” she said. “Budget flights even to Hawaii are so accessible. There’s social media. There’s phone calls. There’s so many different avenues that are new tools of abuse for perpetrators, and survivors do not have any tools to address these new tools that abusers have.”
The result of the lack of uniform TRO legislation, Khan said, means that “when laws protecting survivors are weak, laws protecting perpetrators are strong.”
