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A walk in high heels and a community forum are among activities scheduled in Minot to observe April as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The Domestic Violence Crisis Center is sponsoring "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" in Town & Country Center April 25 from 1 to 3 p.m. A number of men in the community will be walking the mall in specially-made high-heeled, pink shoes as part of the awareness event.

"Kick Up Your Heels" is a fundraising project in preparation for the walk. Large, pink, high-heel cut-outs have been placed around the community. A donation gets the shoe "forwarded" to a friend.

On April 30, the Minot Sex Offender Task Force will host a community forum from 7 to 9 p.m. in Minot City Hall. Representatives of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will talk about what happens when an alleged crime is reported, who investigates, what happens in court and how offenders are integrated back into the community after sentences are served. Representatives of North Central Human Service Center will join the crisis center in discussing ways a community can work toward preventing sexual assaults.

Sexual assault is defined as any sexual contact or attention committed by force, threats, bribes, manipulation, pressure, tricks or violence. It includes rape, attempted rape, child molestation, incest and sexual harassment.

Statistics suggest that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted by the time they are 18, according to the North Dakota Council on Abused Women's Services.

The crisis center's Sexual Assault Survivors' Support Group also has had a booth on display in various locations this month. The display features an orange prison jump suit enclosed in a "jail" posted with notes from victims that document the painful truths about sexual abuse.

The purpose of the display is to foster healing and closure for victims, to be a voice for victims who continue to suffer alone in silence and to create public awareness that most offenders are known to their victims and never held accountable for their crimes.

"Name the Shame" has been displayed at Minot State University and Dakota Square Mall. It will be at Town & Country Center through April 25.

For more information about any of the events, contact the crisis center at 852-2258.