When DVAC managing attorney Melenani “Mele” Wai‘alae was a student at the University of Hawai‘i Richardson School of Law, she planned a career focused on Native Hawaiian rights.
Mele knew that Native Hawaiians were overrepresented in the legal system, but during an internship with a family court judge, watching those cases unfold day after day, she began to reconsider.
“We cannot fight for ‘aina or for cultural rights if we are broken inside, if we don’t have our keiki, if we’re being abused,” she said. “And, so I thought, ‘Okay, this is just a new pathway because it’s much needed as well.’ And I want to see those services offered and understood as a Native Hawaiian rights issue when it comes to our over-representation.”
Over 20% of Native Hawaiian women aged 18–59 report experiencing intimate partner violence, compared to non-Hawaiian women of the same age groups (12–13%). Additionally, while Native Hawaiians make up roughly 20% of Hawaii’s population, they include 27% of helpline contacts requesting advocacy services.
Mele also has a unique perspective as she was both in the child welfare services (CWS) system and sought DVAC’s services as a domestic violence survivor while she was still in law school.
“To see that this is so prevalent in our community and wanting to be a friendly face or to open that door to help someone else out was what I wanted to do,” she said.
Mele’s practice in family law is rooted in a genuine passion for protecting domestic violence survivors and serving Native Hawaiian communities. She was a member of DVAC’s first survivor advocacy team, a group of volunteers who share their stories and communicate the need for the organization’s services in the community and legislature.
Soon after graduating from law school, she became a staff attorney at DVAC, followed by work at a private law firm, before establishing her own law firm, Wai‘alae Law, LLLC. She also founded and serves as executive director of Ka Lei o Ka Lāhui, a nonprofit dedicated to providing Hawaiian culture-centered legal and support services to survivors, and served as a program manager for Epic ‘Ohana, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening families and supporting youth involved with CWS and foster care.
Since rejoining DVAC, Mele guides and trains the other three staff attorneys. The team primarily handles paternity and divorce cases because they are longer-term, while contracting attorneys assist with TROs.
Mele is quick to point out that DVAC’s impact isn’t limited to the legal categories it serves.
“We hold space for survivors and find ways to help them navigate the system as opposed to being very narrow in our approach and what we offer,” she says. “Survivors are tired of fighting their abuser or even just defending against their abuser. And then this organization or this person steps in to help. I can help.”