May 5: National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls

Today, May 5th, is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Gender Diverse Indigenous Peoples. It is a day for not only awareness and recognition, and wearing red, but also for further learning, justice, and accountability. 

Parent Support Services Society of BC believes strongly in decolonisation and justice for Indigenous peoples. It is ongoing work that involves learning, listening, and growing, as we continue to expand our Indigenous programming (Support Circles, workshops, events) and connect with Indigenous communities and agencies to best understand how to achieve this mission in all that we do. 

Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse peoples face a disproportionate amount of violence than any other group in Canada. The violence they face is intricately connected to racism, colonialism, and stigmatisation, that is prevalent not only in every day life and the average person, but also in all levels of power in the country and its justice system. 

This is an ongoing crisis that is often downplayed, but the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls makes it clear to call it what it is, genocide against Indigenous peoples.

Read Reclaiming Power and Peace: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s fact sheet highlights some of the stark statistics around this crisis, with Indigenous women and girls facing much higher proportions of violence and homicide even when controlling for other risk factors – indicating that “Indigenous identity itself remained a risk factor for violent victimisation of women.” 

To read more of this report from the Native Women’s Association of Canada: https://www.nwac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MMIWG-and-Violence-Fact-Sheet-Formatted-2021.pdf 

Learn more about May 5th: https://wsanec.com/may-5th-is-the-national-day-of-awareness-for-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls/ 

Read the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: 231 Calls for Justice: https://www.kairoscanada.org/missing-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/213-calls-for-justice 

Circle of Care: Indigenous Crisis Line Support Available 24 Hrs – 1-800-588-8717