A week after Hawaii's Senator Mazie Hirono urged FBI Director Christopher Wray to do more to protect human trafficking victims in Hawaii, especially Native Hawaiians, seven young human trafficking victims were rescued in Honolulu.
According to FBI Honolulu, as part of a cross-country operation at least seven girls were located and rescued on Oahu on Friday by FBI agents, the Honolulu Police Department, the Missing Child Center of Hawaii (MCCH),
The FBI noted that two traffickers in Hawaii were arrested in connection with the victims. The suspects face child sexual exploitation and human trafficking charges.
"Native Hawaiian women and girls represent 67% to 77% of sex trafficking victims in the state of Hawaii," said US Sen. Mazie Hirono . “Native Hawaiians also represent 37% of reported child sex trafficking cases,” she cited to Wray during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Hirono pressed Wray on what the Bureau is doing to protect the Native Hawaiian community from sexual exploitation at a full Judiciary Committee hearing. During the hearing, Hirono highlighted how sexual exploitation disproportionately impacts Native Hawaiian women and children in the state of Hawaii.
Hirono also emphasized the need for the FBI to include the Native Hawaiian community in its efforts to address the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis and violence against Native communities.
According to census data, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander groups make up 10.5% of today's Hawaii’s population. However, they constitute the majority of sex trafficking cases. When looking at child sex trafficking cases, Native Hawaiians represent 37% of victims statewide.
“The federal government owes the same trust responsibility to Native Hawaiians as it does to American Indians and Alaska Natives,” said Senator Hirono during the exchange. “Even if [the Violence Against Women Act] doesn’t specifically allow for protection of Hawaiian women and children, there’s nothing that stops the FBI from including Native Hawaiian women and children as part of your charge.”
“I will say that you put your finger on an important issue, and our Honolulu office has been working very hard to target and aggressively pursue federal charges on known and repeat human trafficking offenders,” Wray responded.
He said that office found are gangs and drug trafficking organizations "exploit vulnerable victims, and in particular, the lion’s share—as you say with the statistics that you were citing—the lion’s share of that is on displaced or marginalized sectors, especially Native Hawaiians."
"And, in fact, I think it was just this past week, our Honolulu office recovered, I think, three minor females who were missing and at risk on the Big Island. And I know they’re very aggressively working that issue."
Hirono is a strong advocate for ensuring the federal government meets the trust responsibility owed to all Native Americans, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, and is a longstanding supporter of programs and resources that uplift women and children. In May, she introduced a resolution designating May 5th as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.The seven human trafficking victims rescued in Hawaii were part of a nationwide enforcement campaign dubbed "Operation Cross Country." The FBI, working with its state and local partners during the month of August, identified and located 84 minor victims of child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation offenses and located 37 actively missing children.
Data from rescue groups found that while more than 20% of Indigenous people remain missing for 30 days or longer, only 11% of white people remain missing for the same time period. Another disparity was present in terms of media coverage: While 30% of Indigenous homicide victims made the news, more than 50% of white victims did.
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