According to a report released yesterday by the attorney general's office, 138 of 469 homicide cases between 1985 and 1994 involved victims who were either the killer's family member, roommate, spouse or lover.

Firearms figured into 39 percent of the domestic killings.

"When I first heard it, I thought, we're really working pretty hard here," said Nanci Kreidman, director of the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. "We've enacted some good laws here. When you do that, you think you're helping to save lives."

But Kreidman believes the numbers can be viewed as a call to action. "This means we have to continue to be vigilant and open to ways to make it work better and to tighten up the weak links."

She contends enforcement of domestic abuse and related laws need to be bolstered and the message that the community doesn't tolerate domestic violence must be hammered home consistently. "Perpetrators of domestic violence crimes don't spend that much time in jail it turns out. I think we like to give them second chances."

She said she'd like to see probations enforced "putting the safety of their victims first."

Thomas Green of the attorney general's Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division stressed that people in volatile situations "need to leave xxx If there's a firearm in the house, get rid of it and/or get out of there. At least if you get hit, you may get another chance."

And because violent behavior is learned when children are very young, kids need to be taught nonviolent ways of handling conflict, Green said.

"We need to really take this information to heart," Kreidman said. "We need the resources to be spent and the commitment to be made. The demand for these services has expanded over the years."

While the findings are disturbing to both Green and Kreidman, they say there may not be as great a gulf between Hawaii and mainland domestic violence homicides as the numbers seem to indicate.

On the national level, the relationship between the victim and the assailant is unknown in 40 percent of the cases, said Green. In Hawaii, "we almost always know who the offender is," he said. That skews the statistics away from domestic violence (on the mainland), Green explained.

Kreidman said the definition of domestic violence-related homicides may be less inclusive on the mainland, thus yielding a lower rate.

But the rate is high in Hawaii and answers are few.

Both Green and Kreidman surmised that culture is at least part of the reason.

"If English is not your first language or there is a high premium placed on not going outside the family with your problems, there's going to be less tendency to seek help," she said.

Green said he suspects Hawaii has more crowded households and greater economic pressures causing people to remain in abusive relationships. "That's speculation but it's a start," he said.

The 138 homicide cases involved a total of 148 victims of which 63 percent were female, 66 percent were 35 or younger and 16 percent were under the age of 5, according to the report. A third of the victims were Caucasian, 23 percent were Filipino and 17 percent were Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian. Also, 32 wives were killed by their husbands, 21 girlfriends by their boyfriends and eight ex-girlfriends by their ex-boyfriends.

During the 10-year period, 87 percent of the offenders were male. Fifteen offenders committed suicide after taking the life of their victim.