What is In Her Shoes?
In Her Shoes was originally developed by the Washington State Coalition on Domestic Violence It is an interactive exercise designed to allow women and men the opportunity to walk “in the shoes” of women experiencing violence.
How does In Her Shoes work?
In Her Shoes includes 10 stories of real women who experience violence. Participants move through the stories in pairs as if they are walking “in the shoes” of the women experiencing violence, making choices along the way to seek help or support. This interactive exercise allows for participants to come face-to-face with some of the challenges and obstacles women experience. After the exercise, the facilitator will moderate a group discussion to further explore key themes, issues, and reactions of participants. The exercise concludes with a brainstorming session during which participants think about how they can take action to support women experiencing violence and how they can work to prevent violence against women.
The objectives of In Her Shoes are to:
• Increase awareness of and empathy for the difficulties women who experience violence face when seeking support.
• Demonstrate that all women can become victims of violence no matter their circumstances.
• Encourage participants to actively think about what they can do in their personal and/or professional lives to help prevent violence against women.
• Begin a rights-based discussion and analysis of common perceptions about violence against women.
Who can participate in In Her Shoes?
In Her Shoes is designed to reach a wide range of people, institutions, and organizations. It can be conducted with community members, police officers, teachers, community and religious leaders, college students, and health care and other service providers to help them better understand women’s experiences with violence. Everyone can learn something from walking “in the shoes” of women experiencing violence. However, In Her Shoes is not recommended for women known to be experiencing violence as the exercise may provoke strong reactions.
If you are interested in setting up this workshop for your organization, contact Traininglounge@reach-diversity.com
Check out Rethinking Violence, an additional training on Domestic Violence