Dozens "Walk a Mile" to end domestic violence in Sacramento

Dozens of people gathered in Sacramento County Saturday to "Walk a Mile" in memory of women whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence, as part of an annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month initiative. 

Leia Schenk is the founder of Empact, a local non-profit focused on ending domestic violence and one of the organizers of the walk. 

"Domestic violence is something that affects everybody," Schenk said. "Literally, everybody knows somebody if it's not yourself." 

Along with bringing awareness to women whose lives have been taken by domestic violence, the walk also supports women who escaped abusive domestic situations, like Nakisha Woods.

"Back in 2023, my ex-husband came into my home with a bulletproof vest on and a shotgun," Woods shared. "I could not call anybody else at that time but Empact. Upon her assisting me, getting freedom, getting the resources that I needed to relocate, I vowed to her that anything she wants to do, I will be there." 

The walk's path was carefully chosen. It started at the Panera Bread on Howe Avenue where Shalini Thakur was murdered and ended at Urban Air Trampoline Park where two women were shot, killing Samantha Cromwell.

"We wanted to walk in solidarity with the women that just recently lost their lives last month," Schenk explained. "We're not gonna forget, and continuing to say the names of those people that lost their lives, because they mattered, and the circumstances surrounding their death also matters."

For the countless women who walked Saturday morning, it hit close to home.

"You deserve to be protected," Schenk said. "We want the community to feel that way and the only way we can do that is by providing it ourselves."

Participants said they hope that more walks to end domestic violence become common in Sacramento and across the region.