Join us to commemorate Red Dress Day on May 5, 2023. First held in 2010, and inspired by the work of Métis artist Jaime Black, Red Dress Day commemorates the more than 4000+ Indigenous women and girls in Canada who have gone missing or been murdered in the last 30 years.
In recognition of Red Dress Day, and to honour all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people, BWSS is installing a Red Dress display and No More Stolen Sisters banner from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Victoria Park, located at 1425 Victoria Drive, Vancouver.
As an anti-violence organization on the frontlines of the fight to end gender-based violence, we take every opportunity to bring awareness and attention to the high rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. While we take action to end violence. On Red Dress Day, we hold space for grieving families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and to let them know their loved ones are not forgotten.
The perpetuation of gender-based violence against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people in Canada stems from both historical and ongoing gendered colonial violence. One of the most pressing human rights issues in Canada, gendered colonial violence is systemic, and driven by government policy, legislation, and heteropatriarchal decision-making that marginalizes Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people. As a result, Indigenous women and girls are far more likely to experience intimate partner violence, domestic violence, and sexualized violence than non-Indigenous women. Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women in Canada.
BWSS remembers Tatyanna Harrison, Noelle O’Soup, Carmelita Abraham, and Chelsea Poorman: all Indigenous women and girls who were murdered or died under suspicious circumstances in B.C. in 2022. BWSS stands in solidarity with their families, and Indigenous families, communities, and Nations across Canada seeking justice for their loved ones.
For more information, please email us at endingviolence@bwss.org or see our website www.bwss.org
