REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU AND DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP AND PROVIDE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON WAYS TO STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS FOR SURVIVORS OF IMAGE-BASED SEXUAL ABUSE.

SR71

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

71

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

requesting the hawaii state commission on the status of
women, in collaboration with the department of the attorney general, to establish
a working group and provide a report to the legislature on ways to strengthen
protections for survivors of image-based sexual abuse
.

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WHEREAS, image-based
sexual abuse involves the sharing, or threat of sharing, explicit images or
videos of another person without their consent, often with the intent to harm
the victim's health, safety, mental wellness, employment, financial condition,
reputation, or personal relationships; and

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WHEREAS, image-based
sexual abuse is included as a class C felony under existing state law, which
covers offenses that constitute a violation of privacy in the first degree; and

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WHEREAS, the
National Center on Sexual Exploitation recognizes nine different forms of
image-based sexual abuse, including nonconsensual distribution of sexually
explicit material, collection of nonconsensual distributed sexually explicit
materials, recorded sexual violence, sexual extortion, sexual violence in
virtual or augmented reality, tech-facilitated sexual coercion, video
voyeurism, and multiple forms of computer-generated or artificial intelligence-generated
abuse; and

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WHEREAS, a
2017 study by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative found that 12.8 percent of
respondents reported being survivors of image-based sexual abuse; and

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WHEREAS, estimates
of prevalence rates for image-based sexual abuse, like sexual assault, are
widely believed to be low because of the social stigma, personal shame, and
emotional and financial repercussions of reporting such abuse; and

����
WHEREAS, a
study published in 2019 in the academic journal,
Psychology of Violence
,
found that seventy-three percent of survivors of image-based sexual abuse did
not turn to anyone for help after discovering the abuse, in part because of
legal challenges obtaining pathways to justice for the trauma they endured; and

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WHEREAS, emergent
technologies, such as artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented
reality, are making the facilitation of image-based sexual abuse easier for
perpetrators; and

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WHEREAS, a
2019 report by Sensity, a company that detects and monitors sexual deepfakes,
found that ninety-five percent of all online deepfake videos are nonconsensual
sexual deepfakes, with ninety percent of those videos targeting women; and

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WHEREAS, the
State has a responsibility to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that
gender violence is not further enabled by the rise of new technologies; now,
therefore,

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BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, that the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of
Women, in collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, is
requested to establish a working group comprised of gender-based violence
service providers and survivors of gender-based violence to conduct a review of
statutes and policies nationwide to evaluate possibilities for policy or
program enhancements to protect survivors of image-based sexual abuse that can
be adapted from other states and incorporated into Hawaii law; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, in
collaboration with the Department of the Attorney General, is requested to
submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed
legislation on ways to strengthen protections for survivors of image-based
sexual abuse, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of the Regular Session of 2027; and

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BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Executive Director of the
Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women; and prosecuting attorneys of
each of the counties.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
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Hawaii
State Commission on the Status of Women; Department of the Attorney General;
Image-Based Sexual Abuse; Protections; Working Group; Report