Walk a mile in her shoes… if you dare

HILO, Hawaii (KHON2) — Violence against women has been a centuries long problem for women, both cisgender and transgender.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year.

Meanwhile, the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that transgender people are more than four times as likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization. This includes rape, sexual assault and aggravated or simple assault.

In addition, households with a transgender person had higher rates of property victimization than cisgender households.

In Hawaii, the State Department of Health found that domestic violence is a big issue amongst residents:

• 13% of the general adult population in Hawaii report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) at some point in their lives with estimates higher in females (15.8%) than males (10.2%).
• Those who are White, Native Hawaiian, and Other in the general adult population were more likely to report experiencing IPV than those who identify as Japanese, Filipino, or Chinese.
• About 1 in 16 women experience IPV around the time of their most recent pregnancy.
• Women in the youngest age and income groups reported higher prevalence of IPV around the time of their most recent pregnancy.
• Nearly 1 in 5 middle school students report experiencing physical dating violence (PDV) and 1 in 30 report sexual dating violence (SDV).
• 1 in 10 high school students report experiencing PDV, and
• 1 in 12 high school students report experiencing SDV.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, the YWCA of Hawaii Island is hosting its 14th Annual Walk In Her Shoes fundraising and awareness raising event.

You can click here for more information on registering for the event, where and what time it is taking place and what you can do.

Your support during events like this can help YWCA continue to offer these services and programs to the victims, survivors, and family members.

It’s a fun event with a heavy reason for existing. We have the power to stop violence against women. But why haven’t we done it? That is the question that drives many to participate and ensure that women are silenced into submission.