Despite how the amusingly inaccurate item was introduced to Commissioners by Grimes County Judge Ben Lehman, April is not Sexual Awareness Month in the County of Grimes.
Interrupting testimony, Judge Lehman said he apologized, but the agenda was missing a word. It seemed strange when he read it the first time, but it is actually Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
And as Martha Opersteny of the Sexual Awareness Resource Center told the court, though last year’s numbers were lower, sexual assault does happen here. She said they had seen 157 new cases here last year at our local hospitals, serviced 256 new clients face-to-face, and had a total of 556 clients they had served this past year.
And that’s in addition to the 709 hot line crisis calls they received, not only from women and men who’d just been assaulted, but from victims of abuse from long ago.
That local, 24-hour sexual abuse hotline number is 979-731-1000. or you can also click sarcbv.org, for more information and additional local resources.