Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: College Guys Don High Heels to Protest Rape

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm by Kathy Schiffer

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: College Guys Don High Heels to Protest Rape 2016-09-30T16:00:09-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

College guys take a hike in spike heels.

This is the first time I’ve heard about this. Not because the idea is so new—but rather, because I’m so out of touch. Apparently it’s not new at all, as an increasing number of men’s groups across America and throughout the world have participated in the International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault and Gender Violence.

I saw pictures of men in Africa, tottering in women’s heels. I saw the men of Lubbock, Texas, doing the same—ambling across campus in 5” red spikes.

Well, stopping rape is good. Not just good, but very good. According to United States Department of Justice document Criminal Victimization, there were overall 191,670 victims of rape or sexual assault reported in the United States in 2005. The Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault reports that 1 in 6 women has experienced an attempted or completed rape.

Rape is violence, most certainly, against the one woman who is victimized by the assault. It is violence against the rest of society, as well. It is a denial of the intrinsic dignity of every woman, as a person created in the image and likeness of God. It is a denial of the sacredness of the sexual act, which is the wedding gift of a great and loving God.

I worry, though, that this whole campaign has become somehow enmeshed in other “gender-based” causes (such as abortion, or free contraception, or lesbian rights). I’m pretty sure that if we ask the staff running this national program where they stand on these other issues, they’ll lump them all together. You’ll be met with cries of “sexism” if you suggest that the ultimate violence against women is not rape, but execution in the womb.

Father William Saunders, dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Sterling, Virginia, published a column in the Arlington Catholic Herald titled “Ethical Treatment After Rape.” He tackles the hard questions, but does so with compassion for the victims of this violent personal invasion. Father Saunders writes:

In accord with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (no. 36), the care for the rape victim has four aspects: First, she must receive spiritual and psychological support and counseling to help her deal with the trauma of the attack. Such support and counseling will probably continue for some time after the immediate period.

Second, health care providers need to cooperate with law enforcement officials, gathering evidence that can be used in the prosecution of the rapist.

Third, the victim needs treatment for bruises, cuts, or other injuries.

Finally, health care providers must provide treatment to prevent the possible contraction of venereal disease and pregnancy. The Directives state, “A woman who has been raped may defend herself against a conception resulting from sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medication that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum.”(no. 36)

The woman who is a victim of rape has the moral right to prevent the pregnancy for the following reasons: First, the rapist (including his sperm) is an unjust aggressor who has violated the woman’s dignity. Second, rape is an act of force and violence, unlike the conjugal love in marriage whereby both spouses give freely of themselves in an act of unitive and procreative love. Third, the woman is not responsible for the action, and thereby has the right to prevent the pregnancy. (Please note that for these three reasons, this guidance does not violate the Church’s teaching regarding contraception as expressed in Humanae Vitae, which, because of the free-giving between spouses, stated, “Each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life” (no. 11).)

Father Saunders goes on to discuss the various rape protocols, and to address the difficult question of what to do if a pregnancy has already occurred. Don’t miss it—You can read the rest here.

Another don’t-miss article: I reported a while back about my friend Rebecca Kiessling. Rebecca is a family life attorney who handles many cases involving both private and public adoptions. She is also a wife, mother, and speaker on the national circuit. Rebecca, you see, was conceived in rape. Her birth mother wanted to choose abortion; but since Roe v. Wade was not yet the law of the land in America, she was unable to arrange an abortion and decided instead to give up for adoption the child conceived in the rape. Rebecca’s story is one you won’t forget.

Abortion

Adoption

Rape

Previous Post

March 22, 2012

A New Look at the Annunciation

Next Post

March 23, 2012 Pope Benedict, En Route to Mexico, Sends Telegram to President Obama

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who preached the first Christian sermon on Pentecost in Acts?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Philip James Paul