Before the pandemic, the YWCA hosted Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, where men walked in heels to bring awareness to violence against women. This year, the event has been rebranded to Walk A Mile In Their Shoes in an attempt to better demonstrate the realities of gender-based violence. Hannah Lin, executive director of YWCA Muskoka, said that with people of all genders living in Muskoka, she hopes locals will realize that the issue is not one that impacts women alone. 

“Abuse crosses income, race, ability and gender – it can happen to anyone, no matter their background or circumstance, but it’s important to know that women, girls, Indigenous and racialized women, trans, gender-diverse and queer people are at the highest risk of experiencing gender-based violence,” Lin said.

More than four in 10 women have experienced intimate partner violence, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and a woman is killed by her partner approximately every six days in Canada. The risk is even higher for trans and queer people as well as disabled, non-white and Indigenous women. 

For the first few walkathons, the YWCA was able to raise about $15,000 at each event. The most recent in-person walk in 2019 raised $25,000, leading the organization to raise their fundraising goal to $30,000 for this year. The money will fund programs like YWCA Quest, which helps teach boys how to express their emotions, in addition to funding events that are inclusive for two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) youth.

“Through COVID, the demand for services, and particularly for youth programs, has increased,” Lin said. “We’re excited to be back in person again and hope people will help us as we expand the reach of both our organizations’ services as the pandemic subsides.”

The walk will start at Memorial Park in Bracebridge at 11 a.m. on May 29 followed by a barbeque. Walkers can register as individuals or as part of a team and there’s no minimum fundraising requirement to participate. 

While the event previously had just men walking, everyone is encouraged to get involved this year. Once the team at the YWCA decided to shift the focus of the event, they knew they wanted to partner with Muskoka Pride as longtime supporters of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community as well as the Walk A Mile event.

“Muskoka Pride has been an incredibly supportive organization, bringing attention and people to this event ever since we started in 2014,” Lin said. “They are also entirely volunteer run and we knew they were also working with a community of people that experiences gender-based violence directly.”

Shawn Forth is on the Walk A Mile In Their Shoes planning committee and acts as the secretary of the board for Muskoka Pride. He said it’s fantastic to see the event become more inclusive and recognize the increased risk of violence faced by queer and trans people.

“Gender-based violence can happen to anyone, and also we want everyone to be able to take part and be involved,” Forth said. “In addition, [we’re] recognizing that trans, two-spirit and queer individuals face their own form of gender-based violence through the form of homophobia, transphobia, biphobia.”

The partnership between the two organizations is a perfect fit, he said, because they’re both working to educate the community and prevent violence and abuse. They each pay special attention to working with youth in hopes of building a future where events like this aren’t necessary, but for now, Walk A Mile plays an important role in bringing attention to a problem that otherwise exists largely behind closed doors.

“The event is changing with the times and it’s becoming more inclusive,” Forth said. ”Recognizing that there are many organizations in Muskoka who are working to create a better society, this is a partnership between two organizations that saw a lot of commonalities and a lot of overlap in our work, and we saw the opportunity to collaborate and work together to make things even better.”

To learn more about Walk A Mile In Their Shoes, or to register for the walk, click here.

YWCA And Muskoka Pride Partner To Prevent Gender-Based Violence In Muskoka

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For the past six years, YWCA Muskoka has held an annual Walk a Mile Muskoka event for gender-based violence prevention. Over 300 community members have walked to fundraise and show solidarity around the need for more services and programs to prevent violence in Muskoka. To date, the fundraising event has raised $92,000, and has significantly increased the visibility of a largely hidden issue.

The event has been rebranded to Walk a Mile in THEIR Shoes to reflect the realities of gender-based violence, and the walk is for everyone this year – not just men.

“Abuse crosses income, race, ability and gender – it can happen to anyone, no matter their background or circumstance, but it’s important to know that women, girls, Indigenous and racialized women, trans, gender-diverse and queer people are at the highest risk of experiencing gender-based violence,” said Hannah Lin, Executive Director of YWCA Muskoka.

A 2021 report from Egale says that homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia remain rampant in Canadian schools. 2SLGBTQ students report more incidents of verbal, physical, and sexual harassment as well as other forms of targeted bullying (such as cyberbullying) than their cisgender heterosexual peers.

Statistics Canada reported that approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. And sexual minority Canadians are almost 3 times more likely to experience violent victimization than heterosexual Canadians.

“This year’s walk is for everyone – all genders and all ages,” said Merv Taylor-Morin, President of Muskoka Pride. “If you’re involved in a membership-based club, an athletics team, a professional organization or a local business, we are officially challenging your team to walk in solidarity with women, girls, Two Spirit, trans and gender diverse and queer people who are at highest risk of gender-based violence.”

The funds will be used for violence prevention initiatives in Muskoka – specifically to run youth programs including YWCA Quest, and reach young people of all genders during their most formative years. The programs explore issues that help young people develop healthy relationships now and in the future. It will also be used to create events that are inclusive of a diverse community focusing on safer spaces for 2SGBTQ+ youth.

Walk a Mile in Their Shoes is a fun and family-friendly event. There’s no minimum fee to participate however walkers are encouraged to set a personal goal and share their actions from their fundraising portal. Participants may register as an individual, join an existing team or create their own team. Walkers are encouraged to wear something red and comfortable walking shoes.

Register to walk at www.walkamilemuskoka.ca.

The post YWCA And Muskoka Pride Partner To Prevent Gender-Based Violence In Muskoka appeared first on Muskoka411.