ORLANDO, Fla. – Slipping into their finest stilettos, dozens of men and women strutted down Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando Thursday night to send a message: they will walk side by side with survivors of domestic violence.
The “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” main event was preceded by speeches from local leaders like Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Sheriff John Mina, and State Attorney Monique Worrell.
“Tonight is a small but powerful gesture because it shows that we are willing to feel that discomfort in order to create change,” Worrell told the crowd.
Across the country, similar events encourage men and women to wear high heels and walk a mile, demonstrating their solidarity with those who often suffer in silence.
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“The biggest ally that abusers have is silence,” said Michelle Sperzel, the CEO of Harbor House, a state-certified domestic violence center in Orange County.
News 6 spent part of the walk with TJ Padilla, who returned in style for his third consecutive year.
“Just this mile alone is absolutely brutal,” Padilla said of the walk in shoes he is not accustomed to wearing. “So the connection to the name is not lost on me as how difficult it is for all the survivors (of) domestic violence.”
Sperzel stressed that male allyship is imperative.
“This is about men holding other men accountable,” she said. “And for women who’ve experienced domestic violence to know that not all men are abusers.”
During her speech, Orange County Clerk of Courts Tiffany Moore Russell noted that her office processes nearly 4,000 restraining order petitions each year filed by survivors.
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