Women’s Center at Kent State seeks high-heel shoe donations, sizes 10 and above

Participants at last year's "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event
at Kent State show off their heels during the men's march
to bring awareness to and end sexual violence against
women.

The Women’s Center at Kent State University, in collaboration with other Kent State departments and student organizations, will host “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.” The event will take place on Tuesday, April 16, at 5 p.m. at Risman Plaza.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is a playful opportunity for men to raise awareness in their communities about the serious causes, effects and remediation to sexualized violence by wearing high-heeled shoes on a march across campus.

Statistics from the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network reveal that every two minutes someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted, and one in six U.S. women is a victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.

“There is an old saying that ‘you can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes,’” says Jennie O’Connell, coordinator for Kent State’s Sexual Assault Response Team’s education intervention. “With this event, we hope to bring awareness to issues of sexual assault and gender violence, and I hope that our Kent State community members will join in this campaign against sexual violence and partner with us to make this event successful.”

More than 300 participants are expected at the event; therefore, the Women’s Center is requesting donations of pairs of high-heel shoes, either new or used, sizes 10 and above, from the Kent State community. Shoe donations, which are integral to the success of the march, are being accepted at the Women’s Center, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For questions about shoe donations or about the event, contact O’Connell at the Women’s Center, or call 330-672-9230. For more information about the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event at Kent State, visit www.kent.edu/womenscenter.

For more information about the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault or Gender Violence, visit www.walkamileinhershoes.org.