Red Dress Day

To mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples—known as Red Dress Day—we came together to honour our lost loved ones and to shine a spotlight on the MMIWG2S+ genocide. On May 5, we hosted guided visits to our MMIWG2S+ exhibit in our Vault Exhibition Space and held a faceless doll workshop. On May 6, we hosted an roundtable attended by our provincial and territorial member association representatives and Senator Michèle Audette, where we gathered to candidly discuss the many issues related to the genocide and talk about own experiences.

White Ribbon

On May 25, Brandy Stanovich, MMIWG2S+ Manager and Chelsea Lodge Advisor, presented a White Ribbon at the North American Men Engage Network’s (NAMEN) first Canadian member meet-up “Ending the MMIWG2S+ Genocide.” It was an inspiring conversation on the role and responsibility of men in implementing the Calls for Justice and how they can action them creatively. The event was attended by 63 people, including representatives from various organizations, experts in the field, and community members who share a common interest in addressing the MMIWG2S+ genocide.

Federal Annual Scorecard

In May, the MMIWG2S+ team also worked with the Executive Policy team to draft the annual Federal Scorecard, which gives a comprehensive analysis of the progress made on by the federal government on implementing the 231 Calls for Justice and the federal government’s National Action Plan. We evaluated the action taken by assessing budget commitments and their contribution to and creation of programs and initiatives. The scorecard serves as an accountability mechanism in the absence of an oversight body and provides a call for greater transparency from the federal government as well as an implementation plan.

Engagement

The MMIWG2S+ team attended the Trilateral Working Group meeting on May 18 where they held a discussion with Indigenous women leaders from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Participants gathered their expertise to offer recommendations on priority areas for deliberation and opportunities for collaboration. They also exchanged information about policies, programs, and promising practices to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against Indigenous WG2STGD+ Peoples. We also held meetings with the Data + Feminism Lab to learn more about their Data Against Feminism project, which will help us to collect MMIWG2S+ data from media sources and populate the Safe Passage maps.