History

HERSTORY

Girl Fest Hawaii and The Safe Zone Foundation founded the Rape-Free Zone Coalition (RFZC) on April 4th assisting the University of Hawaii (UH) to take the lead in preventing violence against women and to declare the UH System a Rape-Free Zone.

The RFZC consists of professors from the UH Women Studies Program, educators from the Sex Abuse Treatment Center and from Catholic Charities, community activists, graduate and undergraduate students, and attorneys. The RFZC meets monthly with the UH President David McClain to affect new policy on protocol and sex assault reporting, schedule anti-sexism and violence prevention trainings, hear reports on security upgrades, and plan collaborative actions to make the campuses safer.

The Rape-Free Zone Coalition and initiative was founded on April 4th 2005 in response to all rapes occurring on and around the UH campuses. Recently, four rapes were reported that shocked the Honolulu public:

MARCH 12th 2005

* An 85 year old Kaimuki woman was sexually assaulted by a man who broke into her apartment.

MARCH 23rd 2005

* A 38 year old woman, while in her car, was confronted by a man in Manoa near UH Faculty Housing, asking for directions to Long's. He pulled out a knife and took her to another location for the rape.

MARCH 28th 2005

* A young woman,, an 18 year-old Kapiolani Community College student (part of the UH System), was abducted by 5 men outside of Volcano Joe's by Seaview and University and gang raped. They dumped her off outside a UH dorm. (composites of 2 of the rapists below). The 5 men have NOT been caught. They are in their early to mid 20s.

APRIL 28th 2005

* An eight year old girl was taken by a man outside of a community center in Waianae. He lured her into the parking lot and sexually assaulted her.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

On August 29th the President of the University called a press conference publicly declaring the Manoa campus and the University System Rape-Free Zones. The University, the RFZC, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center, and others collaborated on the first of a series of educational trainings for the UH students, faculty, staff, administration, athletes and coaches with the 2nd Annual Girl Fest Hawaii Men’s Program led by Jackson Katz, leading anti-sexism trainer and founder of MVP Strategies.

OUR INITIAL DEMANDS
AGENDA
RFZ MEETING with PRESIDENT McCLAIN
APRIL 27, 2005

1. SECURITY:
a) Increasing the visibility of security between the hours of 6pm and 6am. Security must be easily identifiable to students (i.e., security officers v. parking officers, security vehicles must also be more readily identifiable).

b) Night foot-patrols on all parts of campus.

c) More lighting throughout campus.

d) Mandatory training for security personnel on how to assist victims of sexual assault and rape.

e) Extend shuttle hours. Shuttle stops at 10pm at night while libraries stay open longer. Increasing shuttle hours may alleviate some demands for the security escort service at these times.

f) Change escort service rules. Escort service should not refuse rides to groups of students needing a ride so long as the capacity of people in the vehicle does not exceed the legal limit and should not requires students to wait on the street for the service vehicle to arrive. Escort service must arrive within ten (10) minutes of the initial request.

g) Increase security officer staff. Hire at least 30% more security officers and require complete background checks of all applicants.

h) Check campus security call boxes weekly.

i) Publish all contact information for security and escort service in all dorms, labs, and libraries.

2. HOUSING:
a) Improve locks on entry/exit doors; check weekly.

b) Mandatory training of Resident Advisors on sex-assault response protocol on reporting these crimes to HPD and campus security.

c) Redefine stalking under campus policy. Stalking must be identified as a violation in all applicable housing and University policies with appropriate consequences for violators.

d) Phone security. Residents’ should be able to obtain unlisted phone numbers if they have been victims of stalking or sex-assault.

e) Sex-assaults and other crimes that occur on and around campus must be reported to the campus community consistent with the Clery Act.

3. UNIVERSITY PUBLICITY:
a) UH Website. link and logo from the main page of the University of Hawaii website to a page devoted to issues pertaining to the Clery Act. This page will report places, dates, times and details of sex-crimes occurring on-campus, such as when Police were notified, when Campus Security was notified and the punishments exacted on perpetrators if caught. This web page must be updated once a week. This web page must also include a downloadable and printable PDF and HTML version of annual Clery Act compliance reports from the UH and a copy of the Clery Act itself.

b) Athletics. June Jones and other high profile UH coaches should make public statements, on-camera, on radio, and in print media, against rape.

c) PSA’s. Public declaration via press release and other communication proclaiming UH a Rape-Free Zone with a list of goals to be completed by specific periods of time. (Coalition can work with UH on this.)

d) Educational posters. Educational posters on campus in bathrooms, dorms, and on-campus poster boards which highlight the criminal consequences of rape and a UH RFZ Values Policy, to deter young men from committing these crimes.

4. VIOLENCE PREVENTION EDUCATION
(these trainings should be conducted by professionals in the field e.g. HPD (in legal protocol), Sex Abuse Treatment Center (victim assistance), nationally recognized and/or certified trainer in violence prevention.:

a) Mandatory anti-violence against women trainings for all UH management, all members of the Student Conduct Committee, all faculty, and all coaches.

b) Mandatory anti-violence against women education workshop for all UH athletes and fraternity members.

c) Mandatory freshman orientation covering sex-assault on campus. Freshman orientation should be mandatory, free of charge, and should address campus sex assault policies in effect, the criminal consequences of sex assault and rape, along with a strong message from the President and UH coaches against rape, with reference to resources for victims to receive aid.

5. UNIVERSITY POLICY:
a) Institute a “no tolerance policy” for any University employee who knowingly obstructs justice or aids in the obstruction of justice by either discouraging a report, blocking a report, or failing to immediately report sex-assault or rape to the HPD.

b) Testimony, judgments, and hearings must be recorded in their entirety and transcripts must be made and kept and provided to parties upon request for all cases involving sex-assault and rape.

6. ADVISORY COUNCIL
a) A Rape Free Zone Advisory Council (Council) should directly communicate with the UH President. The Council should be comprised of no more than 40% UH faculty, staff, administration or other UH community members. The remaining 60% of the Council should be members of the general public with no personal or professional relationships with the Board of Regents, UH Benefactors, Legislators, or other political entities or persons that may create a real or apparent conflict of interest. The Council shall be chosen by the Coalition and UH President and shall be appointed by the President.