Men don high heels to call attention to domestic violence

Ukrainian men took part in a high heels race, held in the Dream Town shopping mall in Kyiv on Nov. 24 as part of the “Walk In Her Shoes” action.

The spectacle took place on the eve of the International Week for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is marked on Nov. 25-Dec. 1 each year.

The event was led by Ukrainian singer and TV star Olya Polyakova. “Today men finally felt what high heels are like. They were not afraid to lose control and look weak or funny,” Polyakova said. “It’s never funny when we talk about violence.”

According to a European Union project promoting women's and children's rights, about 1,000 Ukrainian women are killed every year because of domestic violence, while one in five women ages 17-21 are sexually assaulted.

Women are also paid less for the same work than men.