National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People
May 04, 2023 at 10:57 AM
According to the most recent RCMP report, 1,017 women and girls identified as Indigenous were murdered between 1980 and 2012 — a homicide rate roughly 4.5 times higher than that of all other women in Canada — and at least 105 Indigenous women and girls remained missing. These numbers, however, don’t take into account the past 10 years, nor underreporting, discrimination and ineffective data keeping that have been denounced by Indigenous advocates.
Every year, on May 5, red dresses become a symbol of the crisis and are hung outside of homes, from trees or statues. On Red Dress Day, also known as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People, CUPE members, allies and families across the country mobilize to bring awareness, to honour the memory of loved ones and to demand action.
You can read more about Red Dress Day here:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/red-dress-day
