Last Friday marked the third annual Walk a Mile In Her Shoes event in Athabasca, as well as the first such event in Westlock and Barrhead.
It is heartening to see the event is gaining momentum in the region, drawing men out to march in women’s shoes and take a stand on rape, sexual assault and gender violence. But it is commensurately disheartening to know that the event’s growing popularity is tied to the persistence of violence against women around the world and in Alberta in particular.
Some studies have found Alberta faces the biggest uphill battle of all the provinces when it comes to violence against women: the Canadian Women’s Foundation reported in 2012 that 74 per cent of Albertans know a woman who has been abused, compared with 67 per cent of Canadians on the whole.
Experts including Diane Rhyason, former executive director of the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta, have noted that suffering abuse while living in a rural community poses extra challenges for women, particularly when it comes to finding accurate information about how the law could protect them.
We’ve still got miles to go before gender violence is eradicated. Let’s keep on walking.
