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Issue Brief: COVID-19 and Intimate Partner Violence in Native Hawaiian Communities

By:  The Office of Native Hawaiian Affairs | Liliʻuokalani Trust | Kamehameha Schools' Strategy & Transformation Group | In collaboration with The Domestic Violence Action Center

The purpose of this issue brief is to understand the vulnerabilities and potential impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health crisis on Native Hawaiians experiencing or at-risk of intimate partner violence.

While Native Hawaiian businesses are experiencing “sudden, severe, and lasting impacts” from COVID-19, they may play a crucial role in Hawaiʻi’s economic recovery because they are less dependent on the tourism industry, according to a new report released in May 2020.

The COVID-19 Impacts on Native Hawaiian Businesses Issue Brief is the first publication in a series of research briefs co-produced by the Native Hawaiian COVID-19 Research Hui, a collaboration between Liliʻuokalani Trust, OHA and Kamehameha Schools. The goal of the collaboration is to gather and provide data that explore the ways Native Hawaiians have been impacted by the pandemic and the systemic conditions that place our communities at greater risk, and to inform pathways for moving forward to create a new normal.

LT and our partners are conducting a statewide survey to help our organizations and others understand the preferred economic future for Hawaiʻi residents, Native Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian alike. This survey is important to us because many of the families that we serve appear less likely to be included in some Covid-19 surveys, and many surveys are focusing on issues with the present without also asking those closest to the problems about the solutions they see for Hawaiʻi’s economic future. Please help us understand your conditions and hopes by taking the survey and sharing it with others. 

Today, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are facing new stresses, and new ways of working, living, and connecting with each other. It is important, now more than ever, to ground in our values as resilient peoples, to center ourselves, and to stay connected with each other.

Kūkulu Kumuhana is a wellbeing framework built on the six principles of Ea, ʻĀina Momona, Pilina, Waiwai, ʻŌiwi and Ke Akua Mana. This tip sheet, “Native Hawaiian Wellbeing during COVID-19,” provides simple ideas, activities and reminders for self care, ʻohana care and community care.

Remember, we are descendants of incredibly akamai, resourceful, connected and resilient peoples, including our beloved Queen Liliʻuokalani. We are their living legacy and honor them through our resiliency during this time. Ola i ka lāhui Hawaiʻi!!

We know that missing school is not easy for you or your kids.  We understand these are difficult times: schools are closing, businesses are closing, and weʻve been asked to stay home.

Social distancing doesn’t mean you have to stop exploring the world. On-line resources can help you find projects at home. Don’t expect your child to do eight straight hours of academic activities: their age is the same number of minutes as their attention span (i.e. a 4-year-old has a 4-minute attention span).  At school kids go outside, run, dance, learn to cook, climb, play games, and meditate in a scheduled routine. Make stations at home and give them options so that they can choose between things without much direction from you. 

Here are some options for making the best of your time together at home.

Cook together

• Pull out an old family recipe and give everyone a job
• Practice math as you help keiki count, measure, and cut

Read aloud

• Turn off the screens and take turns reading aloud books, magazines, and newspapers

Share stories

• Look at old photographics and family stories
• Make up a story and have your keiki make up stories to tell you
• Plan for a future family activity and ask “What story would we tell about our future plans?”

Play games

• Bring out board games, cards, or make up your own games
• Play and get exercise at the same time with: hide-and-seek, “Simon Says,” and musical chairs

Be creative

• Build or create something using things found around the house (i.e. toilet paper rolls)
• Draw, color, make origami, and play with Play-Doh

Exercise together

• Stretch!
• Turn on a recorded exercise routine (there are apps and TV channels for this) and sweat as a family
• Go for a walk and maintain safe distances from other families walking by crossing the street or standing on the side to let others pass

Strengthen your spiritual and social connections

• Pray, meditate, or practice rituals of your faith 
• Call loved ones you do not normally talk to

Take breaks

• Schedule alone time or quiet time so everyone gets a chance to rest

Click on your island to see resources available in your community:

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