The National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People honours, remembers, and demands justice for Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people throughout the country who have gone missing, been murdered, or died at the hands of a neglectful, unjust system.
In Canada, Indigenous women are four times more likely than non-Indigenous women to experience all forms of violence.
Although Indigenous people only make up 4.3% of Canada’s population, Indigenous women make up 16% of all homicide victims and 11% of all missing women in Canada.
Spanning 2001 to 2014, the average rate of homicides against Indigenous women was four times the number of homicides against non-Indigenous women.
On June 4th, 2020, 26-year-old Chantel Moore, from Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, died after being shot by a police officer. The officer had been dispatched to her home in Edmunston, New Brunswick, to check on her well-being.
On March 26th, 2023, 36-year-old Sarah Rose Denny, a young Mi’kmaw mother of two from Eskasoni First Nation died from untreated double pneumonia while incarcerated at Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. Sarah actively tried to seek help, but was never assessed and did not receive treatment. By the time she was taken to hospital, it was too late.
On August 6th, 2023, Destiny Rennie, a 22-year-old Mi’kmaw woman from Sipekne’katik First Nation, died in hospital three days after experiencing brain death resulting from fungal meningitis. Destiny’s mother believes that her race played a role in mistreatment of her symptoms by doctors and hospital staff who assumed she was an “illicit drug user”.
Today, and every day, our hearts are with all those who have been lost to disproportionate levels of violence, neglect, and injustice against Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people; violence, neglect, and injustice that exist and persist because of past and present colonialism, racism, sexism, and lack of intervention on a systemic scale.
To our governments, we demand accountability for, inquiry into, and action to prevent these deaths.