Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is taking place April 9, 2011 to raise awareness for gender issues and sexual violence.

Coe College Fraternity men are taking a few steps – literally – towards educating themselves and the Cedar Rapids community about gender issues and sexual violence.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes®, takes place Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 10:00 am starting in front of Stewart Memorial Library on Coe’s campus. One mile later the walk will end at Waypoint Family Services, located in downtown Cedar Rapids. 2011 marks the fourth annual walk hosted by the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.

The walk encourages men to strap up in high heels in order to start a conversation that isn’t always easy to talk about: gender relations and sexual violence.

“It’s nice to be able to raise awareness for sexual violence just by walking a mile,” says Coe College senior Jay Caughren. “The walk starts out easy, but the heels really start to dig in about halfway through.” Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is an international campaign to stop rape, sexual assault, and gender violence with events happening around the world on a regular basis.

Men and women of the community are welcome and encouraged to join in on the walk. Sexual violence is not just a women’s issue; it affects everyone. Someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Eighty percent of all victims are under the age of thirty, and approximately two-thirds of the assaults are committed by someone known to the victim.

For more information

or to make a contribution to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® please call Justin Nylin at (563) 249-2844 or visit http://www.walkamileinhershoes.org/. All funds raised benefit Waypoint Family Services of Cedar Rapids.

Donate to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® online now securely through Paypal.