ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the University of New Mexico (UNM) is honoring survivors in a unique way.
A UNM advocacy center is collecting hundreds of pairs of shoes to raise awareness of sexual assault victims, using them to create an art installation on campus.
“I think it’s a great way to communicate the message and for students to really grasp how big this thing is that’s happening in our country every day,” said LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center Project Assistant Brooklynn Gray.
The LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center is the organization behind the project called “Sole Survivor”.
They’re collecting more than 460 pairs of shoes and will have them displayed at the UNM Smith Plaza. Each pair of shoes represents 1,000 victims of sexual assault.
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“It can be a little gut-wrenching quite frankly, right, because you’re understanding that this just isn’t like a person. This pair of shoes represents a thousand people,” stated LoboRESPECT Center Director Lisa Lindquist.
“I thought it’d be a great way to spread a message and spread awareness without the normal way of kind of giving statistics or just providing facts,” commented Brooklynn Gray.
All the shoes collected are donated by the community, and the center will be accepting more shoes up until Monday. The exhibit will be up on Tuesday where there will also be sexual assault advocates for people to speak with and expand their awareness. The advocacy center hopes the event will help eliminate some of the stigmas surrounding the topic.
“Let’s not just talk about it in April; let’s talk about it all the time,” stated Lindquist.
The installation will be up on Tuesday, and it’s free to the public. If you’d like to donate shoes, you can email loborespect@unm.edu or call 505-277-2911.
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