UH must enforce required sexual misconduct training

Originally published in the Star Advertiser on Mar 2, 2026

By Anna Nalani Ezzy and Danielle Montoya

Anna Ezzy, AAUW HI President

College campuses are supposed to be a safe space for young adults to engage in discovery and growth. Our laws recognize this, and the need for mandatory, annual training by the University of Hawaii on sexual misconduct prevention and awareness to keep students safe on campus. Yet, UH lags on enforcement protocols.

We are recent alumni from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. We did not receive training on sexual misconduct prevention or awareness when we attended UH. This, unfortunately, is the norm. In 2023, 84% of UH students said that they had no recollection of ever attending a training on sexual harassment (2023 UH Campus Climate Survey).

Danielle Montoya, AAUW HI Treasurer

Because so few students access this training, it's unsurprising that 4 in 5 student-survivors do not contact university resources after experiencing sexual violence specifically due to lack of knowledge. Some survivors keep their stories to themselves, often resulting in negative physical, emotional and social impacts. While others turn to family and friends for protection on campus to continue attending classes.

As hard as student-survivors strive for normalcy after experiencing gender violence, a third suffer academic challenges, with one in ten students forced to drop classes.

In response to this crisis, legislators passed Act 76 in 2023, requiring UH to provide "mandatory annual trauma-informed, gender-inclusive, LGBTQ+-inclusive sexual misconduct primary prevention and awareness programming" for all students and employees.

But in 2026, three years later, students are still only encouraged — not required, as mandated by law — to complete these trainings, despite their proven role in prevention, awareness and survivor support.

On Feb. 6, the state House Higher Education Committee deferred House Bill 2441 which would have enforced the requirement by placing a registration hold on students who had not yet completed the training.

Twenty-two University of Hawaii students, community members and organizations testified in support of HB 2441. The lone testifier in opposition was the University of Hawaii, citing technical challenges to enforce the requirement, which had been mandated since 2023 by Act 76, and that the requirement would be a "barrier to educational access."

But a barrier to educational access for whom? Training makes campuses safer, helping prevent disruptions in education and supporting students to remain in school after experiencing gender violence so they can achieve their educational goals and contribute to Hawaii's future.

Further, such mandated training with associated registration hold is already in place for University of California schools and many other schools across the U.S.

To student-survivors: you are seen and valued. Your testimonies, and those of the community members who stood alongside you, made it clear that we are ready for change from the status quo of campus gender violence. We call on legislators and University of Hawaii administrators to uphold state law, enforce mandatory, annual sexual misconduct training, and create learning environments where students are safe, informed and supported.

Anna Ezzy is state president of the American Association of University Women of Hawaii; Danielle Montoya is the organization's state treasurer.