Sexual Abuse: WKU Students Walk In High Heels To Raise Awareness For Violence Against Women

For a group of male college students, raising money for rape awareness wouldn’t suffice. Instead, they decided to walk a mile in the shoes of the women they support -- literally.

More than 50 members of a Western Kentucky University fraternity slipped into five-inch red heels and trekked a mile around campus to draw attention to violence against women, WBKO reports.

“It’s really steep, it hurts on the heels a little bit,” Bryan Hartzell, Interfraternity council president, told the news outlet. “But, again, you gotta remind yourself the whole time, it’s for a good cause.

The event helped raise $1,000 for Hope Harbor, a nonprofit that offers counseling to victims of sexual assault.

"Instead of just saying oh yeah, we'll support them or something,” John Sanders, a Student Activities Graduate Assistant, told WBKO, “we're actually showing a physical movement that you know, we will stand up and fight for our women.”

Comments

[esd2000]

02:00 AM on 03/25/2012

You guys are fricken AWESOME!!! Hats Off.

[dizzeelizzee1]

03:33 PM on 03/24/2012

Thank you Geltlemen!

[Jun Kim]

01:16 PM on 03/24/2012

They raised 1000 dollars, and did they have to buy 50 pairs of high heels ?

[Decipherer]

07:32 AM on 03/24/2012

Shouldn't that headline read "Sexual Abuse: WKU Students Walk In High Heels To Raise Awareness ABOUT (not "For") Violence Against Women"?

What is wrong with the writers around here?

[ChunkeyMunkey]

01:52 AM on 03/24/2012

Well I can easily say right now that I will never rape a woman. So now what exactly is expected of me to do? Just wondering what the overall, idk, message or plan or whatever events like this one is broadcasting

[Chris7781]

10:51 PM on 03/23/2012

well, I take exception to the "our women" bit but kudos guys!

[MikeFromBC]

04:13 PM on 03/23/2012

"frat boys compelled to walk in heels on threat of losing their charter:

"On the strict condition of anonymity, a member of a participating fraternity spoke with AVFM about the event. He said that the Intra Fraternity Council (IFC), an administrative body who enforces rules and guidelines set both within the Greek community itself and by the school administration evoked a “Standards Requirement,” imposed to ensure a participation rate of at least 80% for all fraternities. Consequences for non-compliance of this requirement include revocation of privileges for individual fraternity members as well as suspension or termination of a fraternity’s charter.""

[Baby-Cabana]

01:30 PM on 03/23/2012

These guys are real men! Not afraid to strut for a cause! All your folks should be proud they raised such well-balanced and caring sons. More men like this in the world.

As for the convicted rapists of this world, I say bring back human-gelding and a life of manual labor.

[Shawn 1]

12:55 PM on 03/23/2012

This is nice, but as bad as frat culture is, it isn't the primary cause of rape culture. The real culprit are KKKhristian jihadists and right-wing conservatives.

If you want to stop rape, arrest and imprison the entire right-wing establishment, from Rush Limbaugh and Faux News to right-wing politicians to anti-choice terrorists.

[fools2234]

12:43 PM on 03/23/2012

The “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the DOE to all colleges that receive federal funding, reduces the standard of proof required to convict a male student of rape all the way down to “preponderance of evidence” (anything above 50%). It also requires all universities to allow alleged victims of rape to appeal the results of college disciplinary hearings, subjecting the accused to “double jeopardy” (which isn’t allowed in US courts).

I wish women would stand up and fight the injustices that happen against men...like false allegations and the elimination of due process for malestudents in college.

"false rape is rare" some will cry.

Eugene Kanin Study confirms a false raperate in a small community and at two colleges to be 41% (41% number came from only women who admitted to lying about rape). A US Airforce Study by Charles McDowell found 60% of rape allegations to be false.

Colorado’s Craig Silverman - a rape prosecutor - said the following:

“During my time as a prosecutor who made case filing decisions, I was amazed to see all the false rape allegations that were made to the Denver Police Department. It was remarkable and surprising to me. You would have to see it to believe it. Any honest veteran sex assault investigator will tell you that rape is one of the most falsely reported crimes that there is. A command officer in the Denver police sex assaults unit recently told me he placed the false rape numbers at approximately 45 percent."

[Tena Marie Blanton]

12:21 PM on 03/24/2012

Experts will tell you that the stats of actual rapes are much higher, a huge percentage of actual rapes go unreported. They go unreported because of the perception of the public that a huge percentage of rape victims are lying. The fact that rape occurs at all in our society should have you and every man up in arms. Because rapists attack children, daughters, sisters, mothers, grandmothers, friends, relatives. One in three women in this country has been the victim of some kind of sexual assault. One in three. Compare that to your stats on alleged false rapes. I find it appalling that any woman would falsely cry rape, I find it equally appalling that you choose to bring up false rape allegations when the article is about violence against women. For or against it, there is no in between.

[chr1st1an]

08:38 AM on 03/12/2013

I find it appalling that you would criticize someone for making the simple point that MAIN reason we have a rate of rate 100 or 1,000 TIMES greater than most civilized countries is because of women who LIE about being raped.

[Lat24]

11:35 AM on 03/23/2012

Congratulations to the spunky young men ..... and congratulations to the parents .... hope is strutting it's style thanks to your sons.

WOW.

[avg american]

11:13 AM on 03/23/2012

Good job, guys.

[athenasword]

11:01 AM on 03/23/2012

Now there are some real men. love their action in support of women.

[Miss Cocoa]

11:00 AM on 03/23/2012

Wow! Good for them! Being ant-violence is not a female agenda -- but a human agenda. Thanks, Guys!

[InVinoVeritasBC]

10:46 AM on 03/23/2012

Sashay, Shante! You better WORK!

[librarianesque]

03:46 PM on 03/24/2012

HAH! That made my day. I love you Ru ;)