On National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, PSAC is distributing Red Dress Pins to raise awareness on the national issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and to urge the government to bolster the efforts of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).

“This government must ensure that the Inquiry leads to justice and healing for all affected by this ongoing tragedy,” said Magali Picard, PSAC National Executive Vice-President. “ Indigenous women and girls, and their families, deserve answers. They deserve justice."

Ensuring the Inquiry’s success

PSAC is calling on the government to focus on the following key considerations to ensure the success of the MMIWG Inquiry:

• There needs to be informative, transparent and accountable communications throughout the MMIWG Inquiry.
• Priority must be given to listening to the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis women. Their needs must be placed at the forefront of the investigation, which includes culturally-based counselling and trauma support for witnesses.
• The Inquiry must include the development of a national action plan to end violence against Indigenous women.
• The Government of Canada must fully implement all recommendations made in the Inquiry.

Show your support and take action

Stand in solidarity with Indigenous women and girls and show the government that you demand justice for them and their families:

• Read the 231 Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls (2019)
• Add your name to our online petition:

• Attend a PSAC regional event to pick up a Red Dress Pin
• Take a picture wearing a pin and tweet

“ I am wearing this pin in support of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. They and their families deserve justice. #MMIWG @JustinTrudeau @psacnat”

• Visit National Indigenous Peoples Day events in your city

Contact your PSAC regional office if you would like more information on the Red Dress Pins.

Background

The Red Dress Symbol

Jaime Black, a Métis artist, launched The REDress Project in 2014. The installation art project involved collecting and hanging 600 red dresses symbolizing the hundreds of Indigenous women and girls whose lives were stolen.

PSAC’s National Indigenous People’s Circle and National Human Rights Council Indigenous Working Group have partnered with Jaime Black to develop the Red Dress Pin in solidarity with all the Indigenous women who have been a victim or survivor of violence.

A national tragedy

Indigenous women and girls in Canada are disproportionately affected by violence and are over-represented in the rate of women that are murdered and go missing. The rate of homicide of Indigenous women is five times higher than non-Indigenous women.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) began drawing attention to the issue of violence against Indigenous women in 2005. They assembled a database on 582 missing and murdered women and girls.

In 2015, the RCMP reported that 1,815 Indigenous women were murdered between 1980 and 2014.

In response to numerous calls for action from organizations such as NWAC and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), the Government of Canada launched an entirely independent National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in September 2016.