Researchers, advocates urge expanded anti‑trafficking training and services on Hawaii Island

A team from Arizona State University and Tucson Police Department told the Hawaii County Communications Reports and Council Oversight Committee on March 18 that sex trafficking and exploitation are occurring on Hawaii Island and across the state and called for expanded, culturally tailored training and victim services.

The presentation, delivered by Dr. Dominique Rosepowicz, a professor at Arizona State University who leads the Office of Trafficking Intervention Research, and Sergeant Lawrence Hove of the Tucson Police Department, summarized multi‑year research and outreach conducted on Hawaii Island and other islands. Dr. Rosepowicz said the research included placing online ads to identify buyers, interviews with survivors, and surveys of providers.

The presenters said their research found high levels of local demand and victimization. “In Phoenix when I placed an ad ... 45 people individuals will call me within 24 hours. The ad that I placed here in Hawaii Island in 2018, there were 279 individuals called me within 24 hours,” Rosepowicz said. She said researchers also interviewed 22 survivors and surveyed 363 people across five islands; in that sample 26.7% reported having been trafficked.

Why it matters: presenters argued that trafficking in Hawaii…