KENORA – One hundred people gathered by Kenora’s Jarnel Contracting Pavillion to participate in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event on Wednesday.
Each year, people all over the world walk the distance wearing red high heels to raise awareness and end sexualized violence.
In Kenora, participants were joined by first responders and healthcare workers as they walked from the pavilion to McLeod Park.
The event was led by the Kenora Sexual Assault Centre, and Executive Director Jaye Wesley said that while statistically the highest rates of sexualized violence are towards women, girls and gender-diverse people, they wanted to recognize that all genders can suffer from sexual violence.
She said that people of all cultures, genders and sexualities joined together for the high-heeled walk.
“The high heels we wear today are symbolic. Walking in them may feel awkward or uncomfortable, but that brief discomfort cannot compare to the fear, pain, and lasting harm caused by gender-based violence,” said Welsey in her speech.
“Gender-based violence can take many forms. It includes physical and sexual violence, emotional and verbal abuse, stalking, harassment, coercive control, financial abuse, and violence carried out through technology. It can happen at home, at work, at school, online, and in public spaces,” she continued.
Prior to the event, people could register and include their shoe size. Wesley explained that while they have a lot of shoes from previous years’ events, they received a large donation from another sexual assault centre.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes began in 2001 in the United States with Frank Baird and occurs internationally.
On their website, they define sexualized violence as “any act of physical or psychological violence targeting sexuality or gender and used to undermine a person’s sexual or gender integrity.”
“Anyone can fall victim to sexualized violence regardless of gender identity. Sexualized violence devalues women, female practices, feminine ways of thinking, feeling and being, feminine energy, and femme presentation,” reads the website.
During her speech, Wesley said that every step represents a commitment to believe survivors, to challenge all forms of violence and abuse, to build relationships based on equality and respect, and to “create communities where everyone can live without fear.”
