‘Better get help or they’ll put you away,’ visitor tells perpetrators of domestic, sexual violence (14 photos)

Despite an overcast sky and drizzly conditions, a large group of men, wearing red high heeled shoes and cheered on by women, took part in the Sault’s second annual Walk A Mile In Her Shoes event near the city waterfront Saturday.

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes is an act of awareness/fundraiser in which men and women join together in honour of women and children who have experienced abuse and violence, male participants wearing red high heels to imagine what it’s like to walk in the shoes of women who have suffered mistreatment.

William Lownsberry, of Wolverine, Michigan, visited the Sault to take part in the walk.

It was Lownsberry’s 58th Walk A Mile In Her Shoes event, having taken part in last year’s inaugural Sault, Ontario walk.

Lownsberry has participated in Walk A Mile In Her Shoes events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as Michigan communities such as Jackson, Battle Creek, Mount Pleasant and Grayling since 2008.

For Lownsberry, the walk is tragically personal.

“We’ve had domestic violence in our family. My brother’s wife was killed by her sister’s husband. He shot both of them, then he killed himself,” Lownsberry told SooToday.

“It was senseless,” said Lownsberry of the murder-suicide, which took place in Niles, Mich. in 2001.

“The violence is in the news every day. I think these walks are doing a good job and making a difference. These big cases, involving celebrities...people are getting caught because they’re not above the law.”

“I walk for the victims at these walks, and I tell the victims if you’re keeping domestic violence to yourself, tell somebody. You’ve got to get it off your chest, and when you do, you’ll move from being a victim to being a survivor,” Lownsberry said.

“There are a lot of men who are victims too. And if they’re perpetrators they’d better get some help because eventually they’ll get caught and put away.”

All funds raised by individuals or teams through pledges and/or registration fees for Saturday’s walk go to the Sault’s Women In Crisis, an emergency shelter and support services office for women.

The walk began at the Civic Centre and paused at the southwest corner of John Rowswell Park, where walkers took in a comedic presentation by Timothy Murphy before resuming the walk eastward along the boardwalk, circling at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library and heading back to Rowswell Park where men finally had the chance to take a load off their heels.

Approximately 110 people pre-registered for the event, about 80 of which were men.  

“We want to see violence end in this community,” said Erin Lodge, Women In Crisis communications coordinator.

“Our numbers at the shelter are high this year.”

“We’re a 24-bed shelter for women and their children, and we have been over capacity for the majority of the year. On any given month we have about 29 residents staying at our shelter, so that doesn’t look good or sound good in terms of the question ‘is this (domestic violence) decreasing?’”

“The goal is to get people aware and talking because the more people are aware, then more women are going to reach out for help and not stay in situations where they are abused,” Lodge said.

“We want women to understand ‘people are out there and willing to step up and support you, so come and get the help you need,’” said Lodge, attributing the cause of domestic and sexual violence to male power and control issues, many such abusers having grown up in violent homes and led to believe violence is normal.

“Our goal is to try and educate the next generation it’s not normal...we are not men haters. The fight to end violence against women is not a women’s battle, not a men’s battle, it’s a community battle. There are good men here today, willing to walk in high heeled shoes, there are good men and we know that. We’re just trying to help educate the general public and how they can get involved and instill hope in people, get involved to see change,” Lodge said.   

150 pairs of high heels were purchased and provided for last year's walk by Great Lakes Honda, another 20 pairs added by the car dealership this year.

$46,054.50 was raised for Women In Crisis at the second annual walk.

Top fundraising teams were:

• Burly Heeled $5,869.50
• Pumped Up $5,734
• Sault Fire Services $1,724
• We Walkers $940

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes began in the U.S. in 2001, growing into an international movement including thousands of men who have raised millions of dollars for domestic violence shelters, education, prevention and remediation programs.

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