WINCHESTER — Note to future Walk a Mile in Her Shoes participants: Bring a comfortable pair of shoes.
Just ask Matt George, who showed up for Saturday afternoon's event with the understanding that women's shoes would be provided for all the male participants. George's mischievous friends gave him a pair of red, high-heeled stilettos that he gamely wore while wobbling his way up and down the Loudoun Street Mall.
"My feet hurt," he said, but the uncomfortable, unsteady George refused to slow his pace.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes was a light-hearted way to remind people about a deadly serious subject — sexual assault.
Nearly a dozen men volunteered to walk up and down the two-block Loudoun Street Mall Saturday while wearing women's shoes. Most of the men had little trouble with the task because they wore simple sandals festooned with flowers and feathers. Others, like George, were a bit more daring, and in the process learned that wearing 4-inch heels while walking on uneven pavement is a daunting challenge.
Andy Vipperman of Winchester organized this year's event on behalf of The Laurel Center, a local nonprofit agency that provides emergency shelter and services to survivors of sexual and domestic violence in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
"Men want to be part of the solution, too," Vipperman said.
The walk had been an annual awareness event held each April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vipperman said he was eager to restart the walk because the message it delivers is too important to forget.
"This is an issue that affects us all," he said. "We all have a responsibility to try and do something."
At the start of Saturday's walk, Chris Scott, president of the Winchester-based Valley Interfaith Council, reminded participants of the grim statistic that one person is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds in America, and 90% of victims are women.
"We want to lend our support and lend our advocacy and lend our voice to ending the evil and sin of sexual assault in our community because it is past time," said Scott, whose council issued a resolution supporting the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event. "Way too often, our communities of faith have been complicit and have been a part of the problem rather than being a part of the solution. ... We call upon the faith communities of the Northern Shenandoah Valley to scrutinize our own histories and teaching on the matter of sexual violence, to uphold the victims of sexual violence and to employ their auspices to increase public awareness of the causes, treatment and prevention of sexual assault."
The Valley Interfaith Council also called upon local government officials to provide significant funding and services for sexual assault victims and increase the public's awareness that sexual violence is a critical public health and safety concern.
"When we treat girls and women with respect and dignity, they flourish," said Douglas Norell of the Valley Interfaith Council. "We want a flourishing society involving everyone, regardless of their gender."
Winchester Sheriff Les Taylor was the only public official who participated in Saturday's Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, and he did it while pushing a stroller that cradled his recently born grandson.
"It's a great event," Taylor said. "I do it for my two daughters, but I also do it for my son because he's a young man and we have to educate our young men."
"Sexual assault, sexual violence doesn't only affect the person that act was committed on, it affects everybody they interact with," Vipperman said.
If you are a victim of sexual violence and need immediate assistance, call 911 or The Laurel Center's 24-hour hotline at 540-667-6466. For more information about the center, visit thelaurelcenter.org.
April 26, 2021 at 11:00AM
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Men in high heels share a serious message - The Winchester Star
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