Hundreds of men donned high heels and teetered around Toronto today to help raise awareness of violence against women.

Organizers of the annual charity event Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, now in its fifth year in the Canadian city, warned all participants to ‘bring band aids’ to stop their newly-acquired stilettos from rubbing.

Spectators uploaded photographs of the spectacle to Twitter, showing men wobbling along the mile-long course wearing everything from neon pink court shoes to chunky platforms.

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes: The International Men’s March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence was started in California in 2001.

The attention-grabbing scene of men wearing women’s shoes was designed to create a dialogue about an issue that is often hidden from public view and forgotten about as a result.

In 2009 the event spread to Toronto where it has since raised around $400,000.

Todd Minerson who helped to organize the event and serves as the executive director of White Ribbon, one of the largest men’s anti-violence programs, says there were almost 1,000 walkers from as young as 11 to as old as 70 in last year’s walk.

The goal this year is to raise $125,000 to fund programs that help men and boys understand the issue of violence against women in Canada.