Red Deerians brave the pain of high heels for "Walk a Mile in HER Shoes," a domestic violence awareness and fundraising event. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

"WALK A MILE IN HER SHOES"

Red Deerians walk-the-walk for domestic violence awareness in annual Outreach Centre fundraiser

Sep 18, 2024 | 2:53 PM

More than 80 people donned a pair of high heels and did laps downtown for the annual “Walk a Mile in HER Shoes” fundraiser and domestic violence (DV) awareness event on September 18.

The one mile, high-heeled walk is intended to put participants- symbolically – in the shoes of those who experience domestic or gender-based violence.

“It’s still pervasive in our communities right across the country. We’re still seeing rates like we’ve seen over the past decades. Even with all the awareness and everything, it hasn’t dropped substantially,” said Ian Wheeliker, executive director of The Outreach Centre on the importance of the event. “We have to stay vigilant, we have to stay strong, we have to keep our services strong for everyone in the family, whether it’s the person abusing or the people that are being abused, and we’ve got to help our next generation understand how devastating sexual and domestic violence is, so we’ve gotta educate the kids.”

Statistics Canada says that Intimate Partner Violence rates increased from 2015-2022 before levelling out. In 2018, a self-report survey captured that 44 per cent of women aged 15 and older who had been in an intimate partner relationship experienced some kind of psychological, physical, or sexual abuse in the context of their relationship.

“It’s a very very high number and it’s devastating families and it’s devastating individuals. It has a life-long traumatic impact for kids that are exposed either to sexual or domestic violence and it leads to mental health issues, addictions. It’s a plague on our society and we can stop this, it is stoppable,” Wheeliker added.

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He said that citizens wanting to help the issue can make a difference by talking about DV and looking for its signs.

“A lot of the time we look at situations and we go, ‘Well he’s just jealous, or he’s just controlling,’ but there might also be verbal, emotional, and even physical abuse and/or sexual abuse. We’ve got to talk to our loved ones, we’ve got to talk to our friends.”

Wheeliker added that it’s particularly important to raise awareness of the issue among men and that they can play a huge role in ending the cycle by teaching young boys values that are non-violent and non-misogynistic, and acknowledge the fact that they can make a difference.

This was the 13th iteration of the event, with funds raised going toward The Outreach Centre’s many DV support and advocacy programs. Last year, it raised just shy of $55,000 and Wheeliker expects to see about $40-50,000 again this year.

Some of the DV programs at The Outreach Centre the funds will support include a Safe Visitation program, which assists with potentially high conflict custody and visitation situations, a similar program that monitors custody exchanges, ensuring kids are dropped off and picked up safely, and community-based risk assessment safety planning. This program assists women who don’t want to go in-shelter with emergency protection orders and similar needs.

(rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

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