UH sex misconduct bill tackles growing problem

A proposal to require the University of Hawaii to ramp up prevention of sexual violence, and support for survivors, is moving through the state Legislature as incidents on college campuses in Hawaii persist at a level the measure calls “pervasive.”

More than 19% of students who were in a partnered relationship while enrolled at UH reported having experienced dating violence or domestic violence, according to House Bill 554, which has survived the crossover landmark at the state Legislature and is scheduled to be heard next at 3 p.m. Thursday by the Senate Committee on Higher Education.

In addition, about 10% of students said they had been sexually harassed or stalked, and 6.3% reported nonconsensual sexual contact, says the bill, which was introduced by 11 state representatives.

“The repercussions of campus violence are serious,” the Public Policy Committee of the American Association of University Women of Hawaii said in its legislative testimony in support of the bill. A 2021 survey of UH students found 46% of those who experienced gender violence reported negative academic or professional consequences, “yet alarmingly, 5 out of 6 UH students reported not accessing university resources after experiencing sexual violence,” the AAUW testimony said.

House Bill 554 would, among its elements:

>> Require UH to ensure that any person who participates in the implementation of the university’s disciplinary process has training or experience in the process and in handling sexual misconduct complaints.

>> Require that UH provide “mandatory annual, trauma-informed, gender-­inclusive, LGBTQ+‑inclusive sexual misconduct primary prevention and awareness programming for all students and employees of the university.”

>> Prohibit the university from taking disciplinary action against people reporting sexual misconduct, except under certain exceptions.

The bill also establishes staffing and appropriates funds to implement the requirements. UH officials have estimated the cost at $1 million a year.

The university supports the intent of the bill to expand UH’s existing strategies to combat sexual misconduct and violence, Jan Gouveia, UH vice president for administration, said in her legislative testimony.

UH has had a comprehensive plan since the 2015-2016 school year that includes campus climate surveys, confidential advocacy and extensive training among its features, and UH already offers Title IX and related training for students and employees, she said.

UH “is committed to improving institutional responses to allegations of sexual misconduct and other forms of gender violence. To that end it strives to adhere to national standards and best practices in the higher-education context to support survivors, minimize re-traumatization and further harm, and increase safety and well-­being,” Gouveia said.

While House Bill 554 would stipulate requirements for the 10 campuses of Hawaii’s public university system, with its nearly 50,000 students. It also would set an example for other independent colleges such as Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University and Brigham Young University Hawaii.

Troubling trends in sexual violence on college campuses stretch across the states: According to data from the Rape, Abuse &Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, 13% of all college students report experiencing rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence or incapacitation, the measure says. Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males report such violence.

Kris Coffield, who is office manager for state Rep. Jeanne Kapela (D, Volcano-­Naalehu-Hawaiian Ocean View), an introducer of the bill, and who is executive director of the anti-trafficking organization Imua Alliance, says such support would have made a major difference for him after he says he was raped by a professor and three graduate students when he was a 25-year-old political science major in 2008.

He contends that although he reported the attack to a UH administrator, the university did not pursue an in-depth investigation. As too many years now have passed to pursue possible legal action, Coffield said in a Honolulu Star-­Advertiser interview Tuesday, his working to help draft House Bill 554 and others like it “is the best form of justice that I could achieve personally … to make sure that doesn’t happen to somebody else.”

Coffield said he believes UH has improved dramatically since then to prevent sexual violence and support survivors. The tool in the current proposal that would have made the biggest difference for him then, he said, is the trauma-informed training. It would, he said, “create those protocols and those programs that will train professionals who handle these cases at all levels to respond in a compassionate way.”