With April being National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, one organization in Greene County is helping to support survivors.

Assault Care Center Extending Shelter Services (ACCESS) Rural Sexual Abuse Advocate for Boone and Greene Counties Danielle Janssen says they partner with hopsitals, law enforcement, attornies and other local groups for survivors of sexual abuse, on a voluntary basis, with a variety of services. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio ACCESS offers one-on-one crisis counseling, providing basic needs such as food and housing, navigating the court system and the crime victim compensation program, among others. 

Janssen points out that from January 2025 through the end of April 2026, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office reported 20 sexual abuse cases, while the Jefferson Police Department investigated 14 cases. She states that in the same time period, ACCESS helped nine survivors and provided 57 sessions with court advocacy, individual counseling and case management, among other services.

Janssen explains that if someone confides in you about their sexual assault, that you should remain calm and believe that individual. She talks about how you can respond to someone who is a survivor of sex abuse.

“Show them that you’re there to support them. Some things that you could say are, ‘I’m so sorry that this happened to you,’ or ‘This isn’t your fault,’Thank you for telling me.’ And you might even want to ask, ‘How can I support you right now?’ Because they might just need someone to lean on and talk to versus someone to give them solutions.”

Janssen goes over one of the cardinal rules that you shouldn’t do when someone opens up about their sexual assault.

“A big no, no for people who do want to help out survivors is never confront the accused yourself. That could put the victim in danger, that could put you in danger or it could also mess up any kind of investigations that may be going on at the time.”

Janssen notes that some preventative things that can be done to reduce the chances of sexual assault include instilling respect and boundaries at an early age, knowing what consent is and isn’t, bystander intervention to create a distraction from a situation to get a potential victim away from the assalint and addressing harmful norms that excuse violence.

For more information about ACCESS, contact Janssen at 515-292-0500 or look below for some crisis lines to contact:

Domestic abuse/Homicide and Violent Crime CRISIS Line 515-292-0519 (24 Hours)

Sexual assault CRISIS line: 515-292-ALERT (24 Hours)

Shelter Crisis Line: 515-292-0543 (24 Hours)