Lihue is a census-designated place with approximately 9,000 residents located in Kauai County, HI. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented problems on the island, including within Lihue. Among the more serious issues associated with the area’s commercial sex market have been a homicide committed by a woman in prostitution against her cousin and the sexual assault of a prostituted woman by undercover police officers.

To address the consumer-level demand that motivates all sex trafficking, demand reduction tactics have been implemented locally. For example, in 2009, the Kauai Police Department learned of a commercial sex ad posted on Craigslist by a Californian woman. Officers contacted the prostituted woman to assist them in conducting a web-based reverse sting operation which targeted potential sex buyers online. Under KPD surveillance, the woman arranged to meet with three male sex buyers who had responded to the ad. When the sex buyers arrived at the predetermined location, they were arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution. The names and other identifying information of the arrested sex buyers were released to the local media.