每日大赛

By Terry Dickson of The Brunswick News terryldickson50@gmail.com

As he stood in red heels with his pants tucked into his socks, Glynn County Sheriff Neal Jump had one request for his audience.

鈥淚f I fall, please don鈥檛 laugh at me,鈥欌�� he said.

That was after he gave some sobering statistics at the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event at 每日大赛 where male law enforcement officers, faculty, students and others strode through the campus in uncomfortable women鈥檚 shoes.

Dr. Johnny L Evans Jr., interim president of the college, had similar sentiments.

鈥淲hile it鈥檚 comical to watch most of these men struggle,鈥欌�� he said, 鈥渨hat we do here is serious.鈥�

The day was set aside to honor those who have lost their lives to domestic violence and those who have survived.

Evans noted the college has a number of partners and mentioned Safe Harbor, a rape crisis center, that 鈥渞aises up home and light to intervene鈥� in the lives of others 鈥渁t their darkest times.鈥�

Jump thanked the partners who provide services for victims of domestic violence, be it physical, psychological, emotional or isolation. In the past, when deputies responded to domestic violence calls, they often left without arresting anyone if, in the case of couples, the men and women went to separate houses, he said. But sometimes they got back together, Jump said, 鈥渁nd later someone would die.

Recent laws require police to take someone into custody in reports of domestic violence, which has saved lives, Jump said.

鈥淚t took all of you to make that happen,鈥欌�� he said.

Nationally, one in three women are abused daily, Jump said.

鈥淎s long as I鈥檓 sheriff, I鈥檒l keep putting them in jail,鈥欌�� he said.

City Commissioner Felicia Harris noted there were more than 37,000 reported incidents of domestic violence in 2023.

Of the observance at the college, Harris said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 call it an event…Events end. This is a movement.鈥�

Dottie Bromley, executive director of the Glynn County Community Crisis Center/Amity House, said there were 75 sex trafficking victims helped locally in 2023. In Georgia, 119 lost their lives to domestic violence in 2023, she said.

The men who had listened to the speeches in their sometimes painfully uncomfortable shoes walked an elongated loop from the Nunnally Building to the Student Center and back. Some were laughing at themselves as they took shorter than normal strides.

Some stood around and talked a few minutes afterward once back in their own shoes.

Republished with the permission of The Brunswick News. Originally published in .