Men from across El Paso will strap on high heels and walk a mile through downtown next week, part of a 17-year-old tradition aimed at turning an uncomfortable stunt into real dollars for domestic violence survivors. The YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region's Walk a Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser returns to San Jacinto Plaza on October 22, with registration opening at 5 p.m. and the walk kicking off at 6 p.m.
The event, now in its 17th year, brings together men from different businesses and corners of the community to walk the mile in support of domestic abuse victims, according to KFOX14/CBS4. Daniel Veale, chair of the YWCA's Men's Advisory Council, said the walk brings men from different community areas and businesses together to advocate respect and understanding of domestic abuse against women, per the station's report. Event chair Valerie Garcia, a YWCA board member and vice president, said the walk encourages men to take an active role in addressing domestic violence and that men should be aware of the issue and be part of the solution.
Money raised through the walk flows directly to the YWCA's Sara McKnight Transitional Living Center, a facility that serves roughly 200 women and children each year as they rebuild their lives after domestic violence and homelessness, according to YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region. The center first opened in 1993 and offers residential support and case management for homeless women and domestic abuse survivors, the organization notes. That long-term window fills a gap between emergency shelter and lasting independence, sitting alongside crisis services like the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence, which has operated a 24/7 Crisis Hopeline at 915-593-7300 since 1977.
A Concept Born From Walking a Literal Mile
The high-heel march itself traces back to 2001, when marriage and family therapist Frank Baird created Walk a Mile in Her Shoes to invite men into open, non-defensive dialogue about preventing sexual assault and domestic violence through a dramatic public demonstration. The format has since spread to communities nationwide, including a similar fundraiser Hoodline covered in Newton County two years ago. El Paso's own event has run for 17 years, per KFOX14/CBS4's report.
The El Paso Fire Department has supported the walk, according to posts from the El Paso Fire Department.
Statewide Numbers Underscore the Stakes
The fundraiser lands during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, as El Paso and Texas continue to see a rise in domestic and family violence cases, KFOX14/CBS4 reports. El Paso Police Department data cited by El Paso Matters showed roughly 2,600 family violence incidents reported between January and August 2021, a 5% increase over the same period in 2020, while EPPD data obtained by CASFV showed 400 sexual assault reports during the first eight months of 2021, up nearly 3% from a year earlier.
More recent statewide figures show the scale of the problem has not eased. The Texas Council on Family Violence's 2025 Honoring Texas Victims Report found that intimate partner violence caused the deaths of 160 Texans in 2025, including 136 women and 24 men, alongside 15 additional deaths of bystanders, relatives, and children, as reported by Texas Border Business. Three of those intimate partner violence deaths occurred in El Paso County, per KFOX14/CBS4's reporting of the same council's data.
Statewide law enforcement figures add further context. The Texas Department of Public Safety's 2025 Crime in Texas report recorded 240,925 family violence offenses involving 241,015 victims statewide in 2025, according to the Dallas Express.
A Longstanding Local Organization
The YWCA itself has served the region for more than a century, with services reaching thousands through early learning, supportive housing, and social equity programs.
Organizers are framing next week's walk as both spectacle and substance — a chance for men to feel, if only for a mile, a small fraction of the discomfort survivors carry, while directing donations toward housing that can last up to two years. Registration opens at 5 p.m. at San Jacinto Plaza on October 22, with the walk stepping off an hour later.
