A group of people crosses East Beach Street Saturday morning as part of the fourth annual Walk to Stop the Silence. (Photos by Todd Guild)

Despite foreboding gray skies that seemed heavy with rain, hundreds of people gathered in the Watsonville Plaza Saturday morning to participate in the fourth annual Walk to Stop the Silence.

According to Maria Rodriguez-Castillo, Survivors Healing Center’s volunteer community organizer, the core mission of the walk is to bring to light the problem of child sexual abuse, a worldwide epidemic that spans ethnic and socioeconomic barriers.

“We want to show that others are out there who have gone through the same thing,” she said. “We find, as a community, it’s all of us together that can make a difference in ending this epidemic.”

The walk was spearheaded by Santa Cruz-based Survivors Healing Center and the Santa Cruz County chapter of Bikers Against Child Abuse.

Since its creation, the Walk to Stop the Silence has gained momentum, and the number of participants has doubled from the 150 who came for the first event. This year, more than 75 volunteers came to help, a record for the event, Rodriguez-Castillo said.

“We want this to be a movement to end sexual abuse all over the U.S.,” she said.

Survivors Healing Center director Cathy Riley said the center is one of a few organizations in the U.S. solely dedicated to providing services for survivors of sexual abuse.

For the complete article see the 04-13-2010 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 04-13-2010 paper.

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