Heels that heal: Men take an unsteady walk to raise awareness of domestic violence

Curtis Rochette, red heels, and Travis Trainor walk through the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 for the Heels 2 Heal walk. During the event, men donned high heels for a 1 mile walk to raise awareness for domestic violence. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Sporting size 14 shiny red platform go go boots, Curtis Rochette got a crash course in walking in 5-inch heels Saturday.

“That spot on your foot, right behind your toes, I now know it exists,” he said, after walking the 1-mile course during the fifth annual Heels 2 Heal walk at the International Peace Gardens.

As Rochette gamely took on the course from an unaccustomed height and pitch, he said he thought about domestic violence and “how important it is for men to be talking to other men about this issue. Well that, and my feet,” he said.

About 25 men took part in the KAVA Talks (Kommitment Against Violence Altogether) walk. They sauntered in peep-toe heels, strutted in sling backs, and loped along in booties. Some men brought their own footwear, but the event provided loaners to participants who didn’t happen to have a pair of heels at home.

Colter Peterson, Deseret News

Solomon Green inspects a pair of heels, looking for the correct size before the Heels 2 Heal Walk at the University Neighborhood Partner house in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. During the event, men donned high heels for a 1 mile walk to raise awareness for domestic violence. Green ended up with a pair of size 16 high heels, 10 sizes larger than his wife’s foot.

Solomon Green borrowed size 16 cream pumps. With the encouragement of his wife, Dorothy, he hit the course with some trepidation but a willingness to “break barriers,” and to learn more about the issue of domestic violence, he said.

Green, a social worker who works with people experiencing homelessness, said he learned about the event through his dance class.

“I am like a deer that just came out of the womb, but I’m alright,” he said of his wobbly gait.

Pauliasi Vainuku wore his own sassy rhinestone-emblazoned red pumps that he recently purchased at Ross Dress for Less.

“They were only $14,” he boasted.

Vainuku said he was primarily focused on “trying to stay up and not fall and break my ankle. I’m like ‘heel-toe, heel-toe, heel-toe.’”

Vainuku, who leads KAVA Talks, said the event’s larger goal is to raise awareness about the issue and resources available to help Pacific Island community members and others to deal with interpersonal conflict more effectively.

“It’s a problem and a lot of people don’t like to talk about it. A lot of people don’t want to deal with it because they don’t know how to deal with it,” Vainuku said.

“As we learn and we learn how to control our emotions in a better, positive way, all of that will go away.”

Susi Feltch-Malohifo’ou, executive director of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources, said fewer than 10 men took part in the inaugural event five years ago. The walk is held annually in conjunction with domestic violence awareness month and participation has grown each year, she said.

“Men are realizing that they need to be part of the solution or maybe domestic violence has impacted their lives, either growing up seeing the abuse and realizing that it affected their lives, and so they want to be part of the solution with the other men,” Feltch-Malohifo’ou said.

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