HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	37
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING AN AUDIT OF CHILD CUSTODY PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING THE COMMISSION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE BY A PARENT, TO ASSESS THE USE AND APPLICATION OF SECTION 571-46, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES.

 

 

     WHEREAS, domestic violence is recognized as a pattern of behaviors used by one person to coercively control the other person in a relationship; and

 

     WHEREAS, domestic violence may take the form of psychological, physical, or sexual abuse, and can happen once or periodically to victims of any age, gender, race, culture, religion, education level, employment status, or marital status; and

 

     WHEREAS, the primary, most damaging, and long-term form of domestic violence is psychological abuse, which rarely leaves any traces of evidence of its occurrence; and

 

     WHEREAS, victims of abuse are encouraged to terminate relationships with abusive partners, for their safety and the safety of their children, and to avert further and future harm; and

 

     WHEREAS, the termination of an abusive relationship may increase a perpetrator's lethality, because the perpetrator loses control over the victim; and

 

     WHEREAS, the termination of an abusive relationship does not necessarily end a perpetrator's use of violence and abuse of a former partner; and

 

     WHEREAS, child custody and visitation frequently become disputed issues after a victim successfully escapes the abusive relationship; and

 

     WHEREAS, the litigation of child custody and visitation disputes often provides perpetrators with an ongoing venue for the continued use of coercive control against their former partners, under the guise of child custody and visitation concerns; and

 

     WHEREAS, domestic violence is a crime, and not a personal or family problem; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 571-46(a)(9)-(14), Hawaii Revised Statutes, addresses the problems of family violence in child custody disputes; and

 

     WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the Legislature that Family Court judges may not be correctly applying, using, or enforcing Section 571-46(a)(9)-(14), Hawaii Revised Statutes, to the detriment of domestic violence survivors and their children, and ultimately punishes survivors and their children for successfully escaping abusive homes; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to conduct an audit of all child custody proceedings where family violence has been alleged to have been committed by a parent, that were heard by the Family Courts from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2009, to assess the use and application of section 571-46(a)(9)-(14), Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to submit a report any findings and recommendations, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Court Administrator of each Circuit, and the State Auditor.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Family Courts; Family Violence; Audit