Red Dress Day
May 5 is Red Dress Day, a day to remember and honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples (MMIWG2S+). Red Dress Day serves as a painful reminder of the ongoing genocidal crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people and invites solidarity and action.
Explore these titles to gain a deeper understanding of the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
The beginning and end of rape : confronting sexual violence in native America
Deer, Sarah, 1972-, author
2015
Forever loved : exposing the hidden crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada
2016
In October 2004 Amnesty International released a report titled Stolen sisters: a human rights response to the discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada, in response to the appalling number of Indigenous women who are victims of racialized and sexualized violence. This report noted over 500 missing or murdered Indigenous women. Tragically, since this initial report the numbers have risen. After conducting an extensive investigation here in Canada, in March of 2015 the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued their report condemning Canada for the ongoing failure to protect Indigenous women and girls calling it a "grave human rights violation" (UNCEDAW). The failure of the federal government to respond to this issue has resulted in widespread pressure from human rights groups, grassroots movements, and community leaders.
Highway of Tears : a true story of racism, indifference and the pursuit of justice for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls
McDiarmid, Jessica, author
2019
For decades, women and girls - overwhelmingly from Indigenous backgrounds - have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern B.C. The highway is called the Highway of Tears by locals. Journalist Jessica McDiarmid offers an intimate, firsthand look at the communities along Highway 16 and the families of the victims, as well as examine the historically fraught social and cultural tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples that underlie life in the region.
Just another Indian : a serial killer and Canada's indifference
Goulding, Warren.
2001
John Martin Crawford is Canada's second-most prolific sex killer but few people have heard of him. The author contends this is because his victims were aboriginal women and that systemic racism in the police force and the media have resulted in public dismissal of the deaths.
Missing and exploited Indigenous women and girls
Rose, Simon, 1961- author
2021
Discuses the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, the national inquiry that was held to examine this crisis and offer recommendations for change, the factors that have contributed to this crisis, and how to honour the victims.
Obstruction of justice : the search for truth on Canada's Highway of Tears
Michalko, Ray, author
2016
Reclaiming power and place : the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
2019
"The National Inquiry’s Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The two volume report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country. The Final Report is comprised of the truths of more than 2,380 family members, survivors of violence, experts and Knowledge Keepers shared over two years of cross-country public hearings and evidence gathering. It delivers 231 individual Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians. As documented in the Final Report, testimony from family members and survivors of violence spoke about a surrounding context marked by multigenerational and intergenerational trauma and marginalization in the form of poverty, insecure housing or homelessness and barriers to education, employment, health care and cultural support. Experts and Knowledge Keepers spoke to specific colonial and patriarchal policies that displaced women from their traditional roles in communities and governance and diminished their status in society, leaving them vulnerable to violence. "-- Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls website.
Remembering Vancouver's disappeared women : settler colonialism and the difficulty of inheritance
Dean, Amber Richelle, 1975- author.
2015
"Between the late 1970s and the early 2000s, at least sixty-five women, many of them members of Indigenous communities, were found murdered or reported missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. In a work driven by the urgency of this ongoing crisis, which extends across the country, Amber Dean offers a timely, critical analysis of the public representations, memorials, and activist strategies that brought the story of Vancouver's disappeared women to the attention of a wider public. Remembering Vancouver's Disappeared Women traces "what lives on" from the violent loss of so many women from the same neighbourhood."-- From publisher's website.
Stolen sisters : the story of two missing girls, their families and how Canada has failed indigenous women
Walter, Emmanuelle, 1969- author
2015
That lonely section of hell : the botched investigation of a serial killer who almost got away
Shenher, Lori, author
2015
Unbroken : my fight for survival, hope, and justice for Indigenous women and girls
Sterritt, Angela, author
2023
Unbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.
Violence against Indigenous women : literature, activism, resistance
Hargreaves, Allison, author
2017
