This April, University of Northern Iowa students can expect a strange sight: a group of college men walking around in bright-red four-inch high heels.

These men will be putting themselves through the pain of wearing heels for a reason – ending rape, sexual assault and gender violence through an event called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.”

The event will be held April 29 and is hosted by UNI Greek Life. During the event, men will take the idea of walking a mile in someone else’s shoes by literally donning high heels and walking a mile around the UNI campus.

Amanda Firman, president of the UNI Panhellenic Executive Council, said last year was when UNI Greek Life first heard about “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.” Since then, they have been working hard to organize a march at UNI, and they hope to make it an annual event.

Josiah Sweers, vice president of programming for the UNI Inter-Fraternal Council, said fighting rape is an important issue for universities.

“There are way too many sexual assaults that occur on campuses,” he said.

Research funded by the U.S. Department of Justice found that 20 percent of college women will be sexually assaulted. Statistics like this prompted UNI’s sororities and fraternities to take a stand against rape.

“It’s something we, as a community, believe cannot be tolerated,” said Firman.

Sweers said that he hopes the event will also improve some students’ negative views of fraternities.

“A lot of people have negative stereotypes about Greek communities … so obviously it’s good to show that all the fraternities are involved,” he said.

Sweers added that the event will help connect Greeks with other students on campus.

“We wanted to do something that would get more people involved (and) to make it bigger than just an all-Greek thing,” he said.

Firman said that she would also like to see the community get involved with the march as well.

“(Gender violence) is an issue we deal with as a community.”

Firman said that education will play an important role in the event. UNI Greek Life plans to have a speaker at the end of the march to give participants a better understanding of the issue of gender violence. Additionally, the Greeks will sell t-shirts to fundraise for Seeds of Hope, an organization in Waterloo dedicated to providing services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“We’ve supported them in the past, and we want to continue to support them in their efforts,” Firman said.

Men can register for the event by mailing Firman until March 1. Firman said that UNI Greek Life will provide high heels for participants, but encouraged men to bring their own heels if they are able to.

Firman added that women can get involved with the event by working at water stations along the route, making signs to encourage participants and by just showing up to cheer on their peers. Students can also learn more by visiting www.walkamileinhershoes.org.