The UTM Women’s Centre collaborated with the UTM Women and Gender Studies Action Group to raise roughly $350 at their annual Walk Five Minutes in Her Shoes event, with all proceeds donated to services in support of women threatened by violence. The WGS Action Group held a bake sale outside the Student Centre, where the event took place, to raise additional funds.
Music blared as about 10 male volunteers donned women’s heels to navigate through an obstacle course, strike poses, and strut down a mock catwalk.
Students, staff, and faculty participated, including Chad Jankowski, UTM’s health education coordinator, and Prof. Arturo Victoriano-Martinez, who teaches Spanish in the language studies department.
The winner of the obstacle course contest and the participant with the best strut were determined by applause. These two winners received prizes, as did Victoriano-Martinez, who raised the most pledges.
“I think [the event] was successful,” said Jessica Shaw, a fifth-year psychology and WGS student and the Women’s Centre current social and community outreach coordinator. “There were a lot of students who came out. There was really good energy.”
All proceeds will go to the non-profit organization Interim Place, a Mississauga shelter for abused women and their children, whose mandate is “to create social change where women have economic, social, and political justice, and all forms of violence are eliminated in the lives of all women and their communities.” Interim Place provides shelter, support, and counselling to women in need.
