Quebec woman walks across Europe in heels to fight human trafficking and represent women

Dora Alcover walked for 280 days from Spain to Romania in support of women against human trafficking.

For 280 days, Dora Alcover walked from Barcelona, Spain, to Pitesti, Romania.

It is a gruelling walk by any standard, but Alcover made the entire journey in high heels.

“(Wearing) heels was a way to embrace femininity, to represent women, to take back power on the sexualization of women,” she told CTV.

On her nine-month journey last year, Alcover raised around C$25,000 for Reaching Out Romania, an organization that fights human trafficking, especially among girls.

“We watch so much news about Epstein or about Diddy. I think as a woman you learn so much about sexual violence, but you feel like you can’t really do anything about it,” she said. Alcover documented her journey in three languages on Instagram, posting daily updates about the journey and raising awareness about trafficking.

According to the United States Embassy in Romania, in 2024, there were 600 cases of trafficking in the country.

Over one-third of these involved girls.

“In Romania, there’s the lack of opportunity that makes it so the girls can be convinced to do that, when they’re underage,” explained Alcover. “Reaching Out Romania is working with an afterschool program to give them the resources to not go into that life.”

Alcover walked through small towns and along back roads and fields with a stroller to carry her belongings. 

“Some people said, ‘Okay, yeah, you’re a little crazy,’” she joked. “I was like, ‘Thank you.’ But you can see that some issues all humans can connect on, no matter their background, their religion or their politics.”

Alcover is originally from Waterloo, Quebec. She said while there were difficult days due to weather, fatigue and resources, she found help from those who followed her journey online.

She recounted the story of being in Slovenia and having a woman help coordinate a place for her to stay.

“I think when we say things in a cheerful way, a lot more people are willing to listen because it is so hard to hear about trafficking,” she said.

Alcover’s shoe of choice was a platform boot. In one of her posts, she is seen showing off their deteriorating condition as she tried to keep a rotation of them at hand.

“The first day I was like, ‘Oh my God, what did I get myself into?’ But after a while I got used to it,” she said, adding she wouldn’t want to make the same journey in stilettos.

In all, she travelled through nine countries: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Romania.

Alcover said her journey was inspired by her mother, who died 15 years ago.

“I wanted to celebrate her life. I wanted to do something positive in her name.”

Now, she hopes to replicate the journey in Canada to raise even more money for anti-trafficking organizations