Sexual exploitation soared after Hawaii fire, research finds

Sexual exploitation and domestic violence soared after the catastrophic Lahaina wildfire in 2023, with pre-existing gender inequalities exposed and exacerbated by the post-disaster response, new research has found.

- Nina Lakhani

In the weeks and months after the deadliest US fire in a century, one in six female fire survivors surveyed felt forced to engage in sexual acts in exchange for basic necessities such as food, clothing and housing.

Immigrant women and other limited English speakers felt particularly isolated and unsafe in emergency shelters, with some sleeping with their children in vehicles — or engaging in "survival sex" for a safer place to stay, according to the new report by Tagnawa, a Filipino feminist disaster response organisation in Hawaii, shared exclusively with the Guardian.

Filipinos constitute the largest immigrant community in Hawaii, accounting for about 40% of the Lahaina population before the fire — the majority women. Researchers conducted in-depth surveys with 70 Filipino women survivors.