Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles to appear over the next week that will look at the occurrence of sexual assault on Kaua‘i. For an estimated 90 percent of Kaua‘i’s sexual assault victims last year,
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles to appear over the next week that will look at the occurrence of sexual assault on Kaua‘i.
For an estimated 90 percent of Kaua‘i’s sexual assault victims last year, the aggressor was not only an acquaintance, but a trusted friend or family member.
For child victims, that percentage was even higher, according to statistics provided by the Kaua‘i YWCA.
Though that might take some of the island’s residents by surprise, it’s a common misperception nationwide that sexual predators are strangers to their victims, Beverly Eager, lead therapist for sex offenders at the Kaua‘i YWCA, said.
Eager has worked on Maui for 10 years and Kaua‘i for 20 years with sex offenders and sex addicts.
The majority of them aren’t lurking somewhere in the dark, but are trusted individuals who have developed some kind of relationship with their victims, she said.
“More than 90 percent of the time, that’s the case,” she said. “It’s not just some guy, going to the mall to pick up some girl to take home.”
More often than not, it’s a trusted friend who picks up a child from school or is visiting the house, she added — the kind of predator that isn’t filtered through a sex offender registration screen.
“There really are very few, true pedophiles on-island — guys who are exclusively attracted to children,” she said. “It’s less than 10 percent.”
Often those sexual assaults committed against children stem from some kind of perceived emotional connection by the offender, she said.
“Most are not attracted to children,” she said. “It’s more like, the hurricane hits, they’re unemployed and home with a teenager. They’re drinking more, then confide in a daughter and begin to have inappropriate thoughts.”
That’s where it gets even more complicated, as victims who know their aggressor are less likely to report it than those who don’t, Renae Hamilton, executive director for the YWCA, said.
Adding to the challenge is the fact that children are less likely to report sexual assault immediately afterward, making it more difficult to prosecute as evidence disappears.
“We know from long-term studies that kids do not disclose right away,” Hamilton said. “Adults don’t even disclose right away. It’s easier if you’re sexually assaulted by a stranger to disclose it.”
Hamilton says the YWCA uses a three-prong approach to addressing the problem of sexual assaults: working with victims, working with offenders, and prevention.
One of the preventative measures is educating the public about how it is accusatory toward sexual assault victims.
“Many times (society) questions the victims: ‘Why didn’t they say something in the beginning?’” she said. “If there wasn’t physical injury, if it was consensual, or if the victim was drinking, then it makes it even harder. Would you ask the same questions of a robbery victim? No, you wouldn’t.”
Hamilton added that parents and family members of victims should take a moment to consider whether they’re fostering dialog or placing blame on victims, a demographic that is primarily made up of women and children.
Altering that perception could help put more predators behind bars, she added.
“The community reaction in terms of who is to blame — ‘Was that person drinking?,’ for example — that just doesn’t help encourage people in wanting to report at all,” she said.
Assistant Police Chief Roy Asher said residents should keep in mind that sexual assaults are most often crimes of opportunity.
“No one should be assaulted, no matter how trusting they are,” he said. “But unfortunately it’s when victims inadvertently make themselves vulnerable, these kinds of crimes happen.”
Of last year’s 47 reported first-degree sexual assaults, one was reported to have been committed against a pre-adolescent, according to the Kaua‘i Police Department.
A 53-year-old Hanama‘ulu man was arrested March 5 for first-degree sexual assault that reportedly occurred in September.
Police released the man and the case has been handed over to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Whether prosecutors will pursue the case was unconfirmed at press time.
• If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, call the crisis hotline, available 24 hours: (808) 245-4144
• Amanda C. Gregg, assistant editor/staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or agregg@kauaipubco.com.
