Red Dress Day | Idea Exchange

A red dress hanging from the branch of a tree, symbolic of Red Dress Day

The National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples on May 5 brings attention to an ongoing national tragedy: the shamefully disproportionate amount of gender-based violence targeted at Indigenous women, girls, and 2LGBTQQIA+ peoples.

More commonly known as REDress Day (a pun on "Red Dress" and "Redress"), this day invites us to educate ourselves on issues of concern, to take action to fix a particular and shared problem, and to reinforce our common goals for a better, more compassionate world.

Some facts:

While they represent only 4% of all women in Canada, Indigenous women made up 37% (44 out of 119 women) of homicides perpetrated against women in 2018. Source: Statistics Canada, Homicide victims by sex and Aboriginal identity (Data from 2018)
Aboriginal women are more than three times as likely to be a victim of male partner violence in Canada than non-Aboriginal women. Source: Statistics Canada, Victimization of Aboriginal people in Canada (Data from 2014)
17% of homicides of Indigenous women occurred on a street, a road, or a highway compared to 1% homicides of non-Indigenous women. Source: Justice.gc.ca, JustFacts; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Data from 2014)

How you can learn more:

Do you want to learn more about the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples?

Stop by Idea Exchange and browse our REDress Day book displays to find materials that offer indigenous perspectives. Check out our REDress Day booklist.
Read the final report from the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls or and the National Action Plan.
Take the Supporting Indigenous Rights course through Linkedin Learning. It’s free with your membership card.
Watch Indigenous activist Tamara Bernard’s Ted Talk and read the TVO interview about Bernard’s work.

Together, we can learn more, support our Indigenous sisters, and drive change to keep them safe.