Jessica Bendzick/ Winonan

Men walked in red high heels to support the fight of gender violence.

Last Saturday at Windom Park, passersby may have been confused seeing more than 200 men wearing high heels and hearing “I Would Walk 500 Miles” playing over the stereo system.

What they witnessed was the third annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, hosted by the Winona State University Gender-Based Violence program.

Men walked one mile, beginning at the corner of Broadway and Huff, in two- to three-inch high heels to raise money with the hopes of preventing rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Shoe pickup began at 1:30 p.m., and the walk started at 3 p.m.

A few participants ran the mile in its entirety in their high heels. Free chair massages were offered prior to the walk, while free foot massages were provided after. Flip-flops were available for those unable to wear heels.

Winona State senior Adam Bahr participated in the walk last year and again this year. Bahr, a child advocacy minor, said he is doing his capstone project with the Women’s Resource Center.

He helped plan the event and said more than 10 teams signed up and roughly 250 walkers participated. A large majority of participants were male Winona State students, but some men and women from the community walked the mile as well.

Everyone who pre-registered also received a T-shirt.

Signs were carried by many throughout the duration of the walk, including phrases such as, “No Means No,” and “I am man enough to walk a mile in her shoes.”

The Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Center team raised the most money by bringing in $635.25. All proceeds went to the Women’s Resource Center.

President Scott R. Olson said Winona State stands firmly against gender-based violence. Still, he said, he worries about the United States culture.

“Personally, I worry that our culture, the culture our students are steeped in, is going in the opposite direction of where we’re trying to go as a university,” Olson said.

Olson also said he worries about the influence the media can have on the younger generations.

“I’m worried that the media are increasingly depicting gender-based violence assault as normal, as funny,” Olson said, “and I think it could be hard for a young person to get their compass pointing in the right direction, to get a sense of what’s right and wrong, when so many things that surround them point in that direction.”

Even with the efforts already in place at Winona State, such as Walk a Mile, Olson said there is still work to do.

Olson said that Winona State is doing everything it can to end gender-based violence on campus, and the messages from student leaders have been very strong and powerful.