This weekend, hundreds of people donned their high heels for Hope in Every Step, an annual Halton Women’s Place (HWP) fundraiser. It was a two-part event, with the first walk in Milton on Saturday, and the second in Burlington on Sunday; over 400 people registered for the Burlington walk alone.
Families, colleagues, and HWP partners joined forces in this walk to end violence against women. Formerly called “Hope in High Heels,” the event was rebranded this year to better reflect HWP and the people they serve.
Football teams from Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School and Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School participated, as did the Oakville Blades and Oakville Rangers. Many of the young men gamely wore borrowed HWP heels for the walk along Brant St. (the coaches may have had their fingers crossed for no early-season high-heel-induced injuries). Corpus Christi parent Jeff Robson notes that taking part in the event “gives them a good sense of community.” From the same school, teacher Jackson Rakoczy says, “It’s awesome to give back to the community — and important to young men, to understand to treat women well.”
SAFE Halton’s team also walked. Members of SAFE, which is a group of female-identifying survivors of gender-based violence working to influence policy, educate, and empower those affected by gender-based-violence, participated in the making of Second Skin, a punching bag artwork created earlier this year, and which was on display at the walk. Artist Tania LaCaria guided Abrar, Anita, Cecilia, Courtney, Jen, Julie, Lorraine, Kara, Tammy, and WhiteEagle, eight other survivors of abuse, in its creation, to demonstrate that healing is possible after the trauma of abuse, though the process, said LaCaria in the opening ceremonies of Hope in Every Step, “is messy, painful, and difficult.” But that second skin, the scar tissue, comes back stronger than that which was there before. LaCaria’s powerful words for those who have or are experiencing abuse soared over the crowd: “You are stronger than you think. You are still here. We are still here. And we stand with you.”
HWP board member David Vandenberg took to the podium with 12-year-old Raheem (also known as “Raheem the Dream”), who has been fundraising and putting on heels for HWP since he was six years old. Together, Vandenberg and Raheem led the crowd in a pledge to work together to end violence against women. Sadaf, Raheem’s mother, says that Raheem has raised over $7300 in the seven years that he has been participating. The Milton-based family likes to give back whenever they can, and wanted to instill that in Raheem, too — and wanted to show him that young men can (and should) be working as part of the community to put a stop to gender-based violence.
HWP Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement Carm Bozzo and Executive Director Laurie Hepburn both spoke, noting that HWP “deeply appreciates the presence of survivors among us” at the walk, and for those who are still not open about their abuse. “We hear you. We see you. We believe you.”
The Silent Witness project was introduced, a project to visually represent the 52 women who lost their lives last year due to domestic violence in Ontario. William Nelsen of Shop Time Studios created silhouettes of women out of wood; HWP then worked to paint them in purple, the colour used to bring awareness and show support for women who have experienced domestic abuse. These silhouettes, on display outside of City Hall for the event, each had details of four of the 52 women on them; as Hepburn said, “Because these women no longer have a voice…they are Silent Witnesses.”
While of course the reason for the event — the fact that women continue to face violence and HWP must exist in Halton to support them —is an undeniably serious matter, the event itself struck a balance between the gravity of the cause and optimism for the future. Levity was provided by music from Andrew Irving and Megan Gilbey (and the young men in high heels), and lunch from Joe Dog’s for participants probably helped those with sore feet. The event certainly lived up to its name, providing hope by showing that the Milton and Burlington communities show up to support HWP and the goal of ending gender-based violence.
