Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Would a real man walk a mile in women’s 3-inch stiletto shoes? From what I saw on Thursday, October 8, 2009 over 600 men and women, along with our school’s mascot “Rocky the Bull,” walked a mile in high heeled shoes of all types to raise sexual violence awareness. The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event is in its second year at USF and it was hosted by student groups, N.I.T.E. (Necessary Improvements to Transform our Environment) and R.E.A.L. (Relationship Equality and Anti-violence League) along with The Advocacy Program. During the event, participants are asked to walk one mile on the campus in women’s high heeled shoes. All participating men are asked to sign a R.E.A.L. man pact, in which they vow to address sexual violence issues with others, obtain consent for all sexual activities and denounce sexist and dehumanizing jokes.

The event was kicked off with a great opening statement from Eileen Dabrowski, president of N.I.T.E. in which she said, “This important event is inspired by the well-known phrase that you can’t truly understand the experience of others until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”Each year, nearly 31 percent of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. A woman is raped every 90 seconds in the U.S. 13 percent of college women indicated that they have been forced to have sex in a dating situation. With statics like these, I think more men should walk a mile in our shoes.