College men don high heels for sexual assault awareness

A group of primarily college athletes and fraternity members strutted their stuff in red high heels all in the name of sexual assault prevention on Wednesday.

For men who presumably never wore high heels before, they were confident as they marched across campus Wednesday afternoon. Despite their tenacity, they were in obvious pain.

“Yes means yes,” they chanted in unison, “No means no.”

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a national event hosted at college campuses across the United States to raise awareness about sexual assault, said Bret Nielson, a SAAVI intern. (Sexaul Assault and Anti-Violence Information.) SAAVI is a program at Utah State University that serves students, faculty and staff. Its goal is to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and dating violence through events like Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

Neilson said Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a positive way to engage men in sexual assault prevention.

“For a long time, they thought sexual assault was a women’s issue, because women are being raped,” he said. “Well, of course that’s not true. It’s a men’s issue, it’s a human issue.”

Everyone is responsible for ending sexual violence, especially on college campuses where it is happening so frequently, he said. College women between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to be victims of sexual assault than any other demographic, Nielson said. But those numbers are hard to track because sexual assault is the most underreported crime. Also, the majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows.

Nielson said there is a period of time during the first eight weeks of the academic year when sexual assault is most likely to occur, called the “red zone.” This is a time when college students are experimenting, whether that is through exploring different majors, drugs or their sexuality, and some abusers take advantage of that.

“Utah has more sexual assault compared to the national average,” Nielson said. “That is really concerning because usually we fall, like, two to three times lower on every other crime except sexual assault and we don’t even think it is happening.”

The SAAVI Office is a confidential place for those seeking answers about anything relationship-related, Nielson said.

“If you have questions or if something seems a little off in a relationship or something that happened at a party, reach out to us,” he said. “Just come and talk with us. We would be happy to answer any questions you have.”

Nielson said “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” has two purposes. It gives men the opportunity to walk a mile in women’s shoes and gives them a small taste of what it is like to be a woman.

“We literally did walk a mile,” Nielson said. “Walking in red high heels is a pretty daunting task for men because it is an opportunity for them to experience. What is it like to walk in high heels? Because it hurts.”

He said seeing a lot of men walking in red high heels with white socks and signs starts a dialogue about sexual assault prevention.

“As we walked around campus, people were looking at us and asking, ‘Why are men walking in high heels?’” Neilson said. “And they say, ‘Oh it looks like they are chanting about sexual assault.’”

Emmett Odegard, a junior at USU, said as a collegiate football player his head coach strongly advised the team to support Walk A Mile in Her Shoes.

“Aside from that point, I’m actually very interested in the differences between men and women,” Odegard said. “What women have to go through and think about that I necessarily as a white male don’t have to think about. This is the perfect opportunity for that.”

Luke Hansen, a freshman, said he decided to participate in Walk a Mile for completely different reasons.

“They were handing out free candy the other day and it’s for a good cause, so I thought I’d do it,” he said.

Nielson said he had no idea what size of women’s shoes he wears.

“I had to put on about three different pairs of shoes and I’m pretty sure I have a pair shoes that are too small,” he said. “Maybe it is because I am uninformed about how to wear high heels. All I know is my feet hurt after one mile.”

—dani.s.elliott@gmail.com

morgan.pratt.robinson@gmail.com