TNDC News

TNDC Marks National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+

Today – May 5 –  is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ (Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual plus) people.

Also known as Red Dress Day, this important day is when people hang red dresses from trees, windows, fences and balconies. Dangling limply on hangers the red dresses without women to wear them, are visual reminders of the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirit people in Canada and a call for all Canadians to remember and to take action.

In Canada, Indigenous women and girls are targeted for violence more than any other group. On this day, we bring awareness and call for participation from all Canadians, in speaking out against violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and acknowledging and celebrating Indigenous peoples' history, cultures, pride, and diversity.

Rallies are taking place across the country. Carol McBride, the head of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, says we are in a crisis and there is an ongoing emergency nearly four years after the final report into missing and murdered Indigenous woman and girls was released.

TNDC honours the lives and legacies and remembers all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people, and their loved ones impacted by this tragic and ongoing violence.

Image credit & courtesy of: Red dresses are hung from trees during a Red Dress Day ceremony in Vancouver, B.C., on May 5, 2022. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS).