The police department has already sent invitations out to law enforcement officers in Halifax and Northampton and is inviting anyone else who wants to participate to join in.

(The event will be held Wednesday at the Halifax Community College fitness track in Weldon from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. A flyer is attached at the end of this story. Call Avens for more information at 252-536-3136 or show up at HCC)

While Titiana Daouda, Hannah's Place shelter manager, says the event will be fun for men to participate, the overall goal is “to bring awareness to the community to address sexual assault and how to prevent it.”

Daouda said sexual assault is prevalent in the community. “A lot of people never report it. Most victims never want to talk about it. They don't want to relive it and feel people may want to look at them differently.”

Manager of the shelter since December, Daouda said she has seen cases of women who just don't want to open up about it and “don't want to face their abusers.”

The walk is a way for men to look at women differently, she said. “It's to let them know it's OK to tell when it happens.”

Weldon Deputy Chief James Avens will be participating in the event along with Lieutenant Chris Davis as well other invited law enforcement officers. “Sexual assault is a crime that takes away a person's will. It leaves them traumatized. It affects them in adulthood in having having healthy relationships and it can lead to depression and make them become reclusive.”

Daouda said the mile at the college track consists of six laps.

The hope, she said, is it will help “men appreciate women more” and “understand us more and maybe help decrease violence.”

Participants, Avens said, should bring their own women's shoes. “They can bring flats. We're not making them walk in heels.”