Canada's transport minister is facing some heat from Twitter users

Last Thursday Canada's transport minister Omar Alghabra posted a video on his Twitter page. It has several Canadian politicians strolling through a boardroom wearing bright pink high-heeled shoes. The video quickly garnered more than 2 million views.

"Violence against women is still prevalent in our society. 'Hope in Heels' is an event that spreads awareness on violence against women while encouraging men and boys to be part of the solution," Alghabra twitted.

The public reaction was not exactly what the politician had hoped for. Many called the video "insulting," and some called it "mockery" of women.

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series of books, joined the discussion, wittily referring to Alghabra, racking up over 2.5 million views in response: "Keep us posted on how many femicides this prevented".

The fact is that at the end of March, a report was published indicating that the number of female victims of violence had increased. Public figures and politicians have tried in various ways to draw attention to this problem, but not always in an appropriate way.

"Now that I have your attention, violence against women comes in all forms, not just physical," he said. "Men, starting with me, need to be aware of the consequences of our actions and words and do better to create space for women around us."

This did not bring any relief to enraged social media users. "My mom was a domestic abuse survivor and this is not the way you bring awareness to the issue," one girl wrote. There were also those who spoke out harshly: "How is men trying to walk in pink high heels encouraging anyone to part of a solution to stop violence against women? This does not make me feel safe at all, quite the opposite".

"Congrats. You're not only trivializing the pervasive issue of violence against women, but mocking womanhood in the process. I feel sorry for your mothers, wives, and daughters. This is disgraceful," one of the users expressed the thought of many people.

This is not the first time that Canadian politicians have been at the center of a scandal. Trying to win over the public by talking about serious topics, they sometimes make mistakes. Recently we wrote about the interview of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, which also angered some Canadians.