The Estella Scott-Roberts Foundation (ESRF) is excited to announce the 2014 Steps to End Silence Walk on Saturday 26th April.

This is now an annual event, which takes place in April to mark in the Cayman Islands what is recognised internationally as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM).  While focused on the important goal of raising public awareness about sexual violence, the Steps to End Silence Walk is also an opportunity for the community to come together in a spirit of fellowship and camaraderie.

With the month of April upon us, and the walk just over 3 weeks away, ESRF Chairperson, Rayle Roberts, sounded the rallying call for the people of the Cayman Islands:

“We want to make this the biggest ESRF event to date and to send out the strongest possible message that sexual violence will not be tolerated in our community.”

Echoing the theme for SAAM 2014, Mr. Roberts explained:

“If a future free of sexual violence is what we want, then we all need to make our voices heard.  To each and every one of you, whether you are young or whether you are old, I want you to know and understand that your voice matters.”

Building on this objective, the ESRF is appealing, in particular, to families to come out and participate in what is a family-friendly event.  “Ending sexual violence requires the effort of all of us and there is nothing more inspiring than seeing two, or three, or even four generations of a family together supporting this most worthy of causes”, enthused Mr. Roberts.

This year there are even more reasons to come out.  The walk starts at 10.00am at the Crescent, Camana Bay, with the support of Camana Bay.  Make sure that you arrive promptly so as not to miss Janelle from BLISS, who will be warming up participants with some simple yoga stretches.  The walk itself should take approximately 20 minutes and is conducted in silence to emphasise how silence hurts both the victims of sexual violence and the community when we fail to speak out against it.

Once the walk is completed, there will be plenty of activities for all ages on offer.  Purple Dragon will be performing a karate demonstration, and the Family Resource Centre will be offering free t-shirt painting, which allows survivors of violence or other supporters to design T-shirts with their messages that will be on public display.  The winners of ESRF’s Shout Out! Poetry Contest will be showcased. There will be face painting and free gelato for children, courtesy of Gelato and Co.  There will also be free massages and lots of fantastic spot prizes, including gifts from Arabus, Bliss, Curves, Eclipze, Kings Sports Centre and the National Gallery, to be won.

Additionally, other community organisations such as the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre and the Cayman Islands Red Cross will have information available that focuses on understanding and preventing of sexual violence.

There are no registration fees or any other cost to participate.  The only reason you might want to bring a few dollars is to buy an ESRF T-shirt, baseball cap or keyring!

Join the ESRF in taking a stand against sexual violence at the 2014 Steps to End Silence Walk on Saturday 26th April because your voice matters to our future.

For more information on the ESRF Steps to End Silence Walk in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, please visit www.esrfoundation.org.ky, email [email protected], listen out for our adverts brought to you by Radio Cayman and DMS on KISS 106.1 FM and like our Facebook page at ‘The-Estella-Scott-Roberts-Foundation’.