On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Walla Walla community is hosting a walk to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event. It hopes to raise awareness about domestic and sexualized violence  in order to work towards preventing it.

The event begins with a noon walk from Heritage Park on Main Street to the county courthouse and concludes with a 6 p.m. candlelight vigil at the Land Title Plaza on Main.

Organizations sponsoring the event include the YWCA, the Diversity Advisory Council, the Washington State Penitentiary Employee Association, the Zonta club of Walla Walla and the United Gender Movement.

Chetna Chopra, adjunct instructor of general studies at Whitman, is a member of the Diversity Advisory Council that helped coordinate the event. She feels that discussing issues of domestic violence is necessary.

“In a time when the city of Topeka considered repealing the law that criminalized domestic violence because of budget cuts and shelters are losing financial support, it is important to keep this issue in the public view,” she said.

Chopra believes that domestic violence is a widespread issue.

“This isn’t just a women’s problem. This affects men and children, too,” she said.