Restraining Orders

In Hawai‘i, coercive control is defined as a pattern of threatening, humiliating, or intimidating actions intended to harm, punish, or frighten you. It includes a pattern of behavior that tries to:

• make you dependent on the abuser;
• control your everyday behavior;
• isolate you from support;
• take away your independence, liberty, or freedom; or
• take away your sense of self, including your bodily integrity and your human rights.¹

Here are some examples of coercive actions:

• assault;
• isolating you from friends and family;
• controlling how much money you can have and how you spend it;
• monitoring your activities, communications, and movements;
• calling you names and putting you down on a regular basis;
• threatening to harm or kill you, your child, or your relatives;
• threatening to publish information or make reports to the police or the authorities;
• damaging property or household goods; or
• forcing you to take part in criminal activity or child abuse.¹

¹ Haw. Rev. Stat. § 586-1