Commissioners issue Sexual Assault Awareness Month proclamation

Highland County commissioners Brad Roades, Terry Britton and David Daniels recognized April 2025 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Highland County with a proclamation presented at their Wednesday, April 9 meeting.

Accepting the proclamation were Alternatives to Violence Center director Dara Gullette and AVC staff members Sarah Collins, Jeanine Mullenix and Lynn White.

The Alternatives to Violence Center is a domestic violence, rape crisis and child advocacy center providing 24-hour crisis intervention, education and community awareness. Agency advocates, therapists, nurses and lawyers are specifically trained to provide immediate services utilizing trauma-informed care.

Gullette told commissioners that statistics for Highland and Clinton counties indicate that “sexual assault reports are the lowest they've ever been,” but she emphasized that is more likely due to issues with reporting than an actual decrease in sexual violence.

“Unfortunately, in both counties that we serve, victims are not able to get proper SANE [Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner] kits done in the hospitals because nurses are not trained and are sending them out of county to get the actual SANE kits completed, and this is unfortunate,” Gullette said. “When I started years ago, I remember sitting in the emergency room with a victim for eight hours before she was seen, and then, once she was seen, they referred her to Cincinnati. Then we had to drive another two hours before she was seen, and then the rape kit can take anywhere from three to five hours.

“Unfortunately, when presented with that information, the victims a lot of times are just going to say never mind, go home and not complete the kit.”

Along with advocating for local victims, Gullette said the AVC is working with area health care providers to promote the importance of having “nurses certified to complete these rape kits” to avoid these situations.

“We could do it here safely and keep from revictimizing them and telling their story over and over,” Gullette said.

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Gullette told commissioners that they are asking the community to wear jeans for “Denim Day” April 30 to “support sexual assault survivors.

“Years ago, before my time, someone was acquitted from being charged with sexual assault because they said the female’s jeans were too tight and there was no way that he could have pulled them down,” Gullette said.

Gullette also encouraged the community to reach out to their office if they are in need of help. The AVC has locations in both Highland and Clinton counties. The Highland County office is located at 135 North High Street, suite 1, Hillsboro, and can be reached at (937) 393-8118 or by walking into the office Mondays from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. or Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. To reach the 24-hour crisis line, call (888) 816-1146.

“Someone's on call 24/7, so if an abuser is at home with their victim, they can call 24/7, whenever their abuser leaves,” Gullette said.

Services of the AVC include an emergency shelter; personal, medical and legal advocacy; parenting support; support groups; therapy; safety planning; forensic programs; emergency legal advocacy; housing and relocation; information, education and referrals; the Community Advocacy Project; the Real Life Heroes program; and transportation and cell phones.

“We are busier than ever — protection orders, walk-ins, crisis calls,” Gullette said. “We do have support groups and one-on-one session and things like that for victims in our community that are the open to the public and that are free.”

After hearing from the Alternatives to Violence Center staff, Roades read the proclamation recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

For more from Wednesday’s meeting, go to https://highlandcountypress.com/news/health-commissioner-reviews-2024-r….

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