Saturday walk in Casper 'pumps' awareness of victims

You might not want to wear your $9,950 Louis Vuitton Merry-go-round alligator pumps. And you might save your Christian Louboutin mandarin red python pumps with signature red soles that set you back $1,295. You absolutely might not want to loan them to your husband, brother, or male other.

But whether you wear sneakers or spikes, organizers of Saturday’s “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event just want men — and women and kids — to go and have fun.

Frank Baird created Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in 2001. What started as a small group of men daring to totter around a park is now a worldwide movement with thousands of people raising money for local rape crisis centers; domestic violence shelters; and other sexualized violence education, prevention and remediation programs. In 2007, Baird formed Venture Humanity, Inc., a nonprofit that develops peace, violence prevention and community projects. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a Venture Humanity project.

Casper’s walk will take place on the last day of national Victim Rights Week.

“All of the different offices in victim services got together, and we wanted to do a walk this year,” said Alana Ham of the Casper Police Department Victim Services. “We found this one and registered for it.”

The walk is trademarked as the “international men’s march to stop rape, sexual assault and gender violence.”