 The walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes event was held in Baxter over the weekend. Many local residents put on their best pair of high heels to create awareness for sexual assault and violence. Sarah Winkelman has more. Baxter's 10th annual walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes event featured heels of all colors, shapes and sizes as people walked a mile to raise awareness. There is violence against women that continues to happen. So this is a fun, light-hearted event that we can have where we can raise awareness and educate some of the people in the community about what's going on. All of these shoes here were donated by local businesses for anyone to grab or even decorate in order to walk the mile. It was fun. I handed my toenails, my wife actually handed my toenails. She made my shoes for me. Watching people come out here, I don't know how your ladies do it. A common theme among participants was that they were there walking in their pumps to support loved ones, especially their children. I hope to educate and know that those behaviors aren't okay, but also to know what to do if something did happen to them. All ages attended, but the organizers are hoping to continue to grow diversity in their participants. Nowhere do we say that you have to walk. You could roll, you could be pushed, you know, like in a stroller or in a wheelchair or, you know, whatever. We just want people to come and participate and enjoy the event. There were individuals and some groups, including members of the high school football team. But the co-founder of the Gender Violence Institute was still hoping to see more men participating. It's really important for men to step up with women. Women have been doing this work for 40 years to end men's violence against women, sexual and domestic violence. And it's really important for men to step up in partnership with women and say, yes, gentlemen, this has to stop. Period. Chuck hopes that events like these will continue to raise awareness to the severity of the issue. I had no idea it totally radicalized my life. I had no idea how much violence was happening to women, how what the threat was, how frequent it was, and how extreme it was. The topic was serious, but the walking and decorated red pumps was just some serious fun. Reporting in Baxter, Sarah Winckelman, Lakeland News. Now the Walk of Milan Hershoes event will take place in Bemidji Thursday, August 31st. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.