April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month and America’s oldest city is supporting efforts to prevent child sexual abuse and help survivors heal.
Lauren Book, founder and CEO of Lauren’s Kids, will walk through St. Augustine for “Kids Walk in My Shoes” on Friday, April 17. Everyone is invited to gather at 9 a.m. at Canopy Shores Park. Registration begins at 9.30 a.m. The Walk begins at 10.30 a.m.
The annual event, now in its 11th year, is part of a 1,500-mile trek through Florida spearheaded by Book to educate and rally communities to prevent the sexual abuse of minors.
“Vocal and well-known sexual abuse survivors and child advocates will lead local attendees through a powerful walk,” Book said in a news release.
Walkers will journey four miles to St. Augustine’s Betty Griffin Center at 2450 Old Moultrie Road. There, participants can choose to stop or continue walking the walk’s 8-mile route to Francis Field.
An Uber code will be provided to walkers to cover the cost of a ride back to the starting location.
“The statewide trek is an incredibly important and timely discussion as we continue to see rightful outrage from victims during trending Epstein headlines,” Book said via email. “Together, we’re walking to raise awareness, educate communities, and empower survivors.”
Sexual abuse survivors will also have the opportunity to participate in The Voices Project — a storytelling initiative designed to preserve survivors’ voices in their own words.
“A mobile recording unit will be travelling with the Walk to capture anonymous audio recordings from survivors before daily walks,” Book said.
Those who wish to participate in The Voices Project on-site can sign up at LaurensKidsWalk.org. Book is also inviting survivors to submit audio recordings of up to five minutes by emailing voices@laurenskids.org.
“Recordings will become part of a growing digital archive focused on awareness, education, and survivor empowerment,” she said.
Describing child sexual abuse as a pervasive and preventable public health issue, Book said there are more than 42 million survivors of sexual abuse in the United States, with nearly 70% of all reported sexual assaults occurring against children ages 17 and younger.
“Current statistics note that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will become a victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday,” she said. “Walk in My Shoes shines a light on the realities survivors face, elevates their voices, and reinforces the urgent need for education, awareness, and prevention—because when communities come together, abuse can be prevented and healing can begin.”
This story was created by reporter Lucia Viti, lviti@usatodayco.com. with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Lauren Book’s walk to prevent sexual abuse comes to St. Augustine
Reporting by Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record / St. Augustine Record
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