NWAC’s MMIWG2S+ Engagement Sessions

In recent months, NWAC’s MMIWG2S+ unit has participated in a variety of meetings and engagements to advocate for and promote the safety of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse (WG2STGD+) people.

On January 29, we hosted a meeting at our Social, Cultural and Economic Innovation Centre with members of the RCMP. The meeting focused on enhancing the NWAC–RCMP relationship, building trust and accountability, and sharing key priority areas relating to the MMIWG2S+ genocide.

On January 24, we met with the federal MMIWG Secretariat for an engagement session on the Red Dress Alert system. In addition to sharing our vision for the system, we highlighted systemic issues that must be resolved. These include mechanisms for reporting missing Indigenous WG2STGD+ people, victim services, data collection due to the absence of a centralized national database, under-reporting, racial bias, a lack of disaggregated data, jurisdictional issues, and distrust of law enforcement services.

We delivered a presentation on the topic of gender inequality, peace, and security as well as innovative programming at the University of Ottawa’s Women, Peace and Security Symposium on February 9.

In the coming weeks, the unit will is hosting a roundtable with 15 Indigenous WG2STGD+ people who are members, former members, or have experience engaging with the Canadian Armed Forces or the Department of National Defence. The purpose of the roundtable is to offer perspectives and recommendations on sexual and other forms of misconduct in the defence community.