Commissioners recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Highland County commissioners Terry Britton, David Daniels and Brad Roades issued a proclamation recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Highland County Wednesday, April 15.

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

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 highlighted the need for awareness, as she said the Alternatives to Violence Center is averaging over three clients a day thus far in 2026 alone.

“We have assisted 340 victims so far this year in Highland County,” Gullette said. “Sixteen percent of those have reported that they were sexually assaulted or have been sexually assaulted at some time in their life, according to their assessments, so this is still a huge need in Highland County.”

For their outreach this month, Gullette said they are focusing on discussing digital sexual abuse in their educational programs at area schools. According to a Facebook post from the AVC, which cited statistics from the CDC, “1 in 4 women and 1 in 14 men reported experiencing digital sexual abuse in 2024. This type of abuse happens through phones, social media, messaging apps and other digital platforms. It can include online sexual harassment, pressure to send explicit images, AI-generated explicit content, or sharing intimate images without consent. Even though this happens in online spaces, the harm it can cause survivors is very real.”

“We’ll be in the schools a lot, doing some presentations on a lot of the AI technology and things like that that's going on with sexual assault and people creating images and things like that,” Gullette said. “We’re promoting that awareness about Internet safety and chat and especially that AI piece right now.”

Throughout the month, the Alternatives to Violence Center will be sharing statistics on their Facebook page at facebook.com/AVC1981. They have also posted a form where individuals can anonymously post an experience or message regarding sexual assault awareness. 

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.

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.

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

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