HILO — When it comes to dealing with sex offenses and sex offenders, the criminal justice system — including prosecution, incarceration and the sex offender registry — is just one piece of the equation.
Another piece, equally if not more important, is counseling and treatment for both victim and offender.
The YWCA of Hawaii Island provides victim counseling and a number of additional services, including a 24-hour Sexual Assault Support Hotline to deal with immediate crises.
“Anybody can call and say, ‘I need some assistance,’” said Lorraine Davis, the organization’s chief operating officer. “We answer the phone and provide counseling right on the spot. We also have intervention specialists that provide short-term, solution-focused counseling to get them through some of the hurdles and get them prepared to come in to therapy. We also provide long-term therapy, as well.”
The Y also receives referrals from the Victim Assistance Unit in the county prosecutor’s office.
“Our therapists work very closely with them. In fact, our therapists are the ones who can tell them whether a (victim) is ready to go to trial,” Davis said. “Our Constitution says that anybody who’s been accused has the right to face their accuser. So a lot of times … it’s like pulling scabs off the wounds for our victims.
“We can’t prepare every victim. There are times that we have to go back to the Victims Assistance Unit or the prosecutor and just say, ‘This person’s not going to be able to testify.’ We do have that happen periodically.”
Davis said the Y’s therapists focus on “helping victims to understand they do have control over their life.”
According to 2013 FBI statistics, in reported forcible sex offenses, the victims knew their alleged attacker in 81.3 percent of the cases. For nonforcible sex offenses, the number was even higher, with 91.3 percent of victims acquainted with the alleged offender.
In about 28 percent of nonforcible offenses where the victim knew the alleged attacker, the perpetrator was a family member. In forcible cases, the known attacker was a family member in a third of the cases.
In the vast majority of Hawaii cases, the victims knew their alleged attacker, as well.
“In the cases that we’ve had in the last two years, 95 percent of our victims knew their offender,” Davis said. “So the myth of stranger danger, of a stranger jumping out of the bushes, is a lot smaller percentage than the friend or relative.”
Davis said a large number of the victims are children.
“We went into schools this last year … and we had multiple disclosures, where a kid comes up to us afterward and says, ‘This happened to me,’” she said. “The fact that they found a voice is very valuable to us. So I not only want to react to when it happens, I want to prevent it from happening.”
According to Davis, estimates are that “about 30 percent” of sex assault victims will report the assault to authorities.
The state Department of Public Safety requires all incarcerated sex offenders to enter and complete its Sex Offender Treatment Program as a condition to parole approval, with the exception of inmates who lack the mental capacity to master or retain the program’s objectives.
DPS spokeswoman Toni Schwartz said that according to data from the program, 85 percent of the offenders were acquainted with their victims prior to the assault.
“Stranger-on-stranger sex assaults are rare,” Schwartz said. She added that in about 75 percent of cases, the victims are minors.
Offenders are also required to attend after-care sessions while on furlough or parole.
According to Schwartz, since its inception in 1988, the program has a 2.19 percent recidivism rate for new sex offenses committed by offenders who have completed the program.
“The program uses a model of treatment supported by the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers,” she said. That model includes holding offenders accountable for their own actions, and treating those actions as a conscious choice by the individual, not as a mental disorder.
In Hilo, Child &Family Service does counseling and treatment of families where sex abuse has occurred and takes referrals from Child Welfare Services. Some of those cases are in the criminal justice system, others are not, according to Denby Toci, the Sex Abuse Treatment Program director.
“We work individually with the (family members), the child victim and the siblings at risk,” Toci said. “We teach them safety, about good and bad touching. We also teach the nonoffending parent — usually it’s the mom — about sexual abuse, the signs and the symptoms that children go through.
“When sex abuse comes up, it breaks families down to where they usually break apart, but there are families that want to work towards reunification. And if a family is working toward reunification, we have to make sure that each family member … gets the help and the services, and then we can work toward reunification including the offender getting his own help and services.”
Toci agreed it’s “key for offenders to take accountability is wanting to change their behavior.”
“And for us, instead of being punitive, the key is being supportive, acknowledging that bad behavior occurred, but we’re here to help change that.”
Toci said it’s rare that an alleged perpetrator who hasn’t been criminally charged takes that accountability, usually out of “fear of self-incrimination.” But sessions are confidential, she said, and without accountability, treatment won’t be successful.
“We really try to provide a safe environment where they don’t feel judged, where they feel comfortable talking about it.” she said. “We want them to come in and get the treatment. We’re focused on reformation and them changing behavior.
“It’s empowering to see when an individual takes accountability because they’re really motivated to change. They’re really sorrowful for their behavior and they want to make amends, not only to the victim, but their whole family.
The phone number for YWCA Sexual Assault Support Services is 961-3877 in Hilo and 334-1624 in Kona. The Sexual Assault 24-Hour Support Hotline is 935-0677.
For Child &Family Service’s Hilo office, call 935-2188. The Kona office phone number is 323-2664.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
