Men to Walk a Mile to Stop Domestic Violence
8/27/2010
SafeSpace and Indian River Medical Center invite men to ‘step up the fight against domestic violence’ in a figurative and literal way through the Treasure Coast’s first Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® march on Saturday, Oct. 23, between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. at IRMC.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® is the international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Since its creation in 2001, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® marches throughout the United States and Canada have witnessed thousands of men courageously stepping up to become part of the solution to domestic and sexualized violence. Today, nearly 1 in 4 women are beaten or raped by a partner during their adult lives. That’s our mothers, daughters, sisters or wives. On the Treasure Coast and throughout Florida, domestic violence-related crimes are spiking despite overall crime declining.
SafeSpace, the Treasure Coast’s only domestic violence center, has organized the event to increase awareness about domestic violence and available resources during national domestic violence awareness month.
Co-sponsor IRMC is the only hospital in the region with certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners who are specially trained to counsel women and collect evidence admissible in a court of law. IRMC’s free-standing psychiatric hospital, the Behavioral Health Center, which provides both inpatient and outpatient services for children and adolescents and inpatient services for adults and seniors, is seeing a significant rise in the numbers of women and children suffering physically, mentally and emotionally from the effects of sexual and domestic violence.
SafeSpace and IRMC invite you to gather a few good men willing to don women’s high heels and literally ‘walk a mile’ on Saturday, Oct. 23, at IRMC. The cost is $50 per individual with high heels provided to all men who register by Sept. 15.
For more information, please contact Nancy Bright at SafeSpace at 772.223.2399, or visit www.safespacefl.org, www.walkamileinhershoes.org or www.irmc.cc.