Walk A Mile In Her Shoes

I was asked to join this walk a year ago and I'm thrilled to participate again. I have set a goal of $2000 by September 6, 2008 when I will walk with my family for awareness and change for sexual violence. Few women come forward even fewer are able to fight and even fewer win. I am so proud to be a part of this and ask all of my friends, neighbors, friends friends, co-workers and all who read this to dig deep in your pockets and generously donate for a cause that is often hushed. Please pass on my donation address to all you know and help fight! If you don't know someone who has survived a violent attack you do now, I am a survivor of rape, my attacker was prosecuted by the state and is serving 11 years in prison. I am one of the 2% who will ever see the inside of a court room and win. Fight with me for awareness and change!

http://www.firstgiving.com/rochellelyman

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.The point? Awareness!"There is an old saying: "You can't really understand another person's experience until you've walked a mile in their shoes." Walk a Mile in Her Shoes asks men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes. It's not easy walking in these shoes, but it's fun and it gets the community to talk about something that's really difficult to talk about: gender relations and sexual violence.It's critical to open up communication about sexual violence. While hidden away, it's immune too cure. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get people talking. People unfamiliar with it often don't even want to know it exists. It's ugly. People that have experienced it themselves want to forget about it. How do you get them talking now, so they can prevent it from happening? And after it's happened, how do you get them to talk about it so they can recover?Walk a Mile in Her Shoes provides several opportunities to get people talking. For preventive education, it helps men better understand and appreciate women’s experiences, thus changing perspectives, helping improve gender relationships and decreasing the potential for violence. For healing, it informs the community that services are available for recovery. It demonstrates that men are willing and able to be courageous partners with women in making the world a safer place.Violence does not just affect women. It affects the men who care about them, their families, their friends, their coworkers, and their communities.Sexual violence is epidemic. Some of the statistics: Every two minute someone in America is raped. One in six American women are victims of sexual assault.That means someone you know, someone you care about, has been or may become the victim of sexual violence. It may be your mother, your sister, your friend, your girlfriend, your wife, your coworker, or your daughter."