Key West Kicks Off 11th Annual Statewide Walk In My Shoes Child Abuse Awareness Trek

Walkers gathered at Duval Street Pocket Park by 8:30 a.m. on March 31 to launch the 11th annual Walk In My Shoes, a 1,500-mile statewide trek from Key West's Southernmost Point to the steps of the Historic Florida Capitol in Tallahassee organized by Lauren's Kids, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2007.

The Key West segment offered two distances: a 3-mile community walk and a 15-mile route that carried participants through city landmarks including Key Plaza. The Southernmost Point served as the symbolic geographic anchor for a journey that travels north up Florida's east coast, crosses west, and traditionally ends with a "Rally in Tally" at the Capitol after running the entire month of April.

Senator Lauren Book, Founder and CEO of Lauren's Kids, created Walk In My Shoes in 2010 as a personal act of healing. She walked more than 500 miles from the home in which she was abused to the steps of the Historic Florida Capitol. Book, a Florida State Senator, internationally recognized child advocate, former classroom teacher, and best-selling author, is herself among the estimated 42 million survivors of child sexual abuse living in the United States today. Over the walk's 11-year history, Lauren's Kids has influenced the passage of more than two dozen state and national laws, including the elimination of statutes of limitation for civil and criminal prosecution of sexual crimes committed against minors, and has taken on institutions including the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

The March 31 Key West kickoff was positioned as a deliberate bridge into April, which marks both National Child Abuse Prevention Month and National Sexual Assault Awareness Month statewide.

The urgency behind the walk's mission is grounded in hard numbers. Lauren's Kids reports that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will experience sexual abuse before graduating high school, and that 1 in 5 children who touch a digital device will be sexually solicited online. Florida recorded 242,510 total referrals for child abuse and neglect in 2022; of those, 138,711 were screened in for a Child Protective Services response. Local sexual assault treatment centers and children's advocacy centers across the state frequently carry waiting lists, which organizers say makes community-level awareness events like Key West's critical for connecting people to resources.

The 2026 edition introduced the Voices Project, a new Lauren's Kids initiative dedicated to capturing survivor stories in survivors' own words and voices, adding a documentary dimension to a walk that has grown from Book's solo 500-mile journey into a statewide movement drawing tens of thousands of participants annually. Lauren's Kids also produces the EMMY Award-winning Safer, Smarter Kids and Safer, Smarter Teens curriculum, which reaches millions of students across the country each year, and past walk editions have included classroom stops across Florida where Book teaches personal safety lessons directly to students.

Those looking to donate, register for an upcoming walk segment, or follow the trek's progress through April can find information at LaurensKidsWalk.org.