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By nearly all measurements, West O’ahu is experiencing a domestic violence crisis unparalleled in any other community on the island.

Domestic violence incidents were 40% higher in 2023 than they were pre-pandemic. Police officers in District 8, which stretches from Ewa Beach to Ka‘ena Point, responded to more than twice as many incidents of household abuse in 2023 as their counterparts in other districts. Of the island’s 158 patrol areas or beats, the 10 with the highest number of felony and misdemeanor abuse reports were all in District 8.

The crisis surfaces from time to time, in a smattering of incidents dramatic enough to make the news: a amid a fight with his girlfriend in August, a that same month on attempted murder charges after stabbing a woman in the neck, a 20-year-old man in November for assaulting his father. 

Despite the high number of calls for help, the Honolulu Police Department has no programs or efforts underway that specifically target the disproportionate number of domestic violence reports on the Westside. 

The department declined all interview requests for this story. In an emailed statement, police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said HPD takes every case of domestic violence seriously. She offered little information about what might be causing the disparity beyond explaining that when victims of domestic violence tell police about previously unreported incidents, officers document and count each incident separately. 

“It is possible that part of the reason that there is a high number of cases in District 8 is because it reflects the courage of victims to come forward and report prior incidents,” she said. 

Leaders of organizations focused on tackling domestic violence say a more likely reason for the high number of calls are the deep-rooted social struggles and dearth of resources that many Westside residents have been complaining about for decades: high unemployment, limited transportation options, a critical shortage of affordable housing and a lack of mental health and substance abuse providers to help break generational cycles of abuse.

Communities nationwide experienced a sharp increase in domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic that has not dropped back to pre-2020 levels.

But while domestic violence is an issue across the Oahu, abuse survivors with access to more resources may try to stay safe without involving the police, by checking into a hotel until the situation calms down or leaving their partner permanently if they have the means to do so, said Angelina Mercado, executive director at Hawai‘i State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

In essence, the problems that keep victims trapped in violent situations on the Westside go far beyond what can be fixed solely by policing efforts.

“If we know that a risk factor for more abuse is financial stress, is a lack of resources, a lack of access to mental health counseling,” said Amanda Pump, president and CEO of Child and Family Service, “then we’ve got to really hone in on that.”

Sariah, a domestic violence survivor from the Westside who asked to be identified by her first name, said there was little more that police could have done the many times they showed up to intervene in a violent fight with her ex-partner. 

She left her partner to save her relationship with her children, she said, after realizing the abuse they were witnessing was affecting their behavior. Sariah had been in the foster care system as a child and didn’t want her children to experience the things she had. 

But she had to leave the Westside to find housing at a domestic violence shelter in Honolulu and struggled to find housing after she hit the four-month cap for stays at the facility. 

Her stay in Honolulu worked out. She joined a group for domestic violence survivors through Child and Family Service and she said the weekly meetings have been helping her mentally and emotionally as she tries to build a new life for herself. 

“I’m worth it. I deserve to be happy, and my kids deserve so much better,” she said. “I was once happy and stable … I did it once, and I can do it again.”

Still, Sariah has struggled to find permanent housing. She’s currently living with her parents and trying to finish career training until she can afford her own place.

“As a single mother,” she said, “my challenge is housing.”

Better Data Needed 

Apart from high-profile acts of violence, the full scope of the problem on the Westside is often hidden.

The Honolulu Police Department does not publish domestic violence statistics broken down by neighborhood or beat area, even though neighborhood board members have asked for such data in the past, arguing that it could help them focus on areas with high levels of violence. 

Information sharing has also been a challenge because of differences in the ways cases are tracked and processed by police and prosecutors. A 2017 audit of how domestic violence cases are handled in Honolulu criticized the police department and the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office for not having common definitions for abuse and lacking procedures that would allow them to effectively share data and monitor cases.

The police department, which argued that it was relying on definitions outlined in state statutes, has since updated its case management system and improved its ability to more consistently categorize domestic violence crimes. But the two offices have different case management systems and have been unable to create a shared interface for data, according to a 2021 follow-up report.

Other recommendations from the 2017 audit have been dropped or are still being addressed.

The Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office, which also declined an interview request for this story, said in an email that the higher volume of calls in District 8 cannot be attributed to any single factor. The office does not track cases by geographic area and does not have any special efforts focused on the Westside but, similar to the police department, said that it takes all reports of domestic violence seriously. 

Data obtained through a public records request from the police department shows that even when adjusted for population size, the number of domestic violence calls and incidents is higher per capita on the Westside than any other area on the island other than Waikiki, where the numbers are skewed because tourists are included in the incidents but not the population totals. 

Pump of Child and Family Service, a nonprofit based in Ewa Beach that provides services for domestic violence survivors statewide, says the community and service providers need better data. That includes data on domestic violence incidents and where they are occurring, but also what is frequently referred to as social determinants of health — things like employment, housing and community safety that can affect people’s health and longevity as well as their risk for abuse. 

Poverty is not in itself a cause of abuse, Pump said, but instability and financial problems can add pressure to volatile situations and exacerbate existing violence, while also trapping people in unsafe situations.

People in Hawai‘i, and particularly on the Westside, are struggling deeply with a lack of affordable housing and an intense cost of living that can make it incredibly difficult for people to leave their abuser.  

“The impact of inflation on our communities is intense, and we see that amplified when it comes to survivors of domestic violence,” Mercado said.

Nearly one in five people served by Child and Family Service’s domestic violence programs is a repeat client. 

The nonprofit launched an effort earlier this year to engage other groups in gathering neighborhood-specific data on 21 social determinants of health, to identify and better address community needs. 

“The community has to provide the infrastructure people need to stabilize and thrive,” Pump said, “or we are going to be serving over and over and over again the same people.” 

Child and Family Service is trying to remove some of the obstacles that might prevent people from leaving abusive situations, including allowing pets in one of their shelters.

Although the nonprofit has seen a 12% increase in demand on the Westside since 2019, Pump said the organization’s budget has been relatively flat for the last 15 years. Any increase in programs in one area means fewer services in another. 

The organization is headquartered in Ewa Beach and the lack of domestic violence services in other parts of the Westside can be a barrier to getting help, Pump acknowledged. 

People living in Makaha, for example, may not want to be uprooted from their community and go to Ewa Beach or Honolulu to seek assistance. 

“I can't offer housing that's in Makaha because we don't have housing in Makaha,” Pump said. “So how do we knock down those barriers?”

Civil Beat’s community health coverage is supported by , Swayne Family Fund of Hawaii Community Foundation, the Cooke Foundation and .