Advocates for Public Interest Law Program Grantee Elise Kaneshiro and SATC Policy Research Associate Justin Murakami

University of Hawai‘i Law School Advocates in Public Interest Law Program

This summer, SATC was fortunate to receive the pro bono services of Elise Kaneshiro, an Advocates for Public Interest Law Program (APIL) Grantee.

APIL was established by the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law’s Class of 1985 to address access-to-justice issues by promoting advocacy for underserved populations, including victims of abuse and violence.  As an important part of its work, APIL offers grants to select law students in order to support their summer work at Hawai‘i nonprofit firms and agencies.

Elise, a rising 2L at the UH law school, utilized her legal skills to assist SATC with a number of important projects to benefit survivors of sexual violence, including drafting a Sexual Violence Law Book, which highlights laws of interest for survivors of sexual violence such as applicable criminal laws and laws about court proceedings.

In addition, Elise assisted SATC’s staff to research areas for possible policy reform to better Hawai‘i’s response to sexual violence, including the applicability of alternative dispute resolution processes in cases of workplace sexual assault and the impact of a tipped minimum wage on the incidence of sexual harassment in the restaurant industry.

As SATC’s APIL student worker, Elise also had the opportunity to learn about our collaborative work in the community and attend meetings of the Women’s Coalition and the State Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) Working Group on behalf of SATC. She also participated in professional development trainings offered by the Hawai‘i State Department of the Attorney General.