2022 National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
/May 5 marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW).
Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered than other women in Canada. In a 2014 RCMP report, there were 1,181 documented cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In 2019, the National Inquiry’s Final Report concluded that the violence Canada committed against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ people was a genocide.
This epidemic of violence has been a reality for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ people for generations, and despite the already horrific numbers, it is likely that there are many unaccounted for.
This violence is not random, but is a part of Canada’s legacy of colonialism. Canada’s colonial history continues to shape its present. Further, colonialism is not just a thing of the past — it is an ongoing reality that impacts Indigenous Peoples. It continues to create the conditions for this violence against Indigenous women and girls. It also continues to create the conditions that allow this violence to be largely ignored, hidden, and trivialised.
[W]e use hard words to address hard truths like genocide, colonization, murder and rape. To deny these hard words is to deny the truths of the families and survivors, front-line workers, and grassroots organizers. We used hard words because the violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people is a difficult, critically important crisis to address and in which we all have a role.
— p.6, The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
The REDress Project
In response to this violence, Métis artist Jaime Black created an art installation entitled The REDress Project. Red dresses are hung in public spaces across Canada and the United States to honour the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and to begin critical conversations. May 5th has come to be known as Red Dress Day, and supporters are encouraged to wear red.
Learn More
For more information, we encourage you to read The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
More resources are available below, as well as organisations to support.
Emergency and Health Resources
National Inquiry toll-free 24/7 support line: 1-844-413-6649
More Aftercare Services provided by the National Inquiry