It has been alarming to hear of the surges during the pandemic — not just of COVID-19 infections, but also in the skyrocketing number of domestic violence cases.

In April 2019, pre-pandemic, the Domestic Violence Action Center’s (DVAC’s) 31 direct services staffers had contact with clients 519 times. A year later, in April 2020, client contacts had increased more than sixfold, to 3,304, revealing the stresses of the pandemic manifesting in too many cases of household violence.

Any efforts, then, to ease the burden on survivors are important — both in support through traumatic times, and in improving processes to hold perpetrators accountable. One step toward survivor support was heralded this week, with the elimination of an outdated 30-year-old policy that had prevented Honolulu prosecutors from dropping domestic violence prosecutions no matter what a victim said. Instead, now following national best practices, more discretion comes into play — as does a better system to provide support for domestic violence survivors irregardless of prosecutorial outcome.

“We are now listening to the victims and will be much more victim-centric,” said city Prosecutor Steve Alm in announcing the policy change.

The rigid previous policy was less about aiding survivors and putting them in touch with needed services than it was about pursuing prosecutions — even if a domestic violence victim was in danger or the situation suggested another route to resolving cases.

It’s hoped that the new partnership with DVAC will bring a more victim-helpful approach, enabling early and consistent contact throughout the prosecutorial process — and ongoing survivor support even if a case is discontinued, due to safety or other considerations.

Honolulu’s no-drop policy on domestic violence cases was among several issues highlighted in a June city audit, which revisited recommendations made in a 2017 audit into how such cases are handled, processed and resolved.

Another deficiency cited was the lack of coordinated data-collection systems between the police and prosecutor’s office, an unfortunate disconnect that won’t be reconciled any time soon due to budgetary constraints. But improvement is underway, encouragingly, for the prosecutor’s office to establish the use of “vertical prosecution” whenever possible — the recommended practice for one prosecutor to handle a case from filing to final disposition for domestic violence cases, for the sake of continuity.

Stemming the rise in domestic violence, of course, is job one — achievable only through continual vigilance and interventions. In tandem, improvements toward best practices, in or out of prosecution, must involve lessening of trauma in the best interests of survivors of such abuse.