Local organizations are bringing awareness to the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2-Spirit (MMIWG2S+) people with Sisters in Spirit next month.
Taking place on Oct. 4 at Royal City Park on the south bank of the river, Sisters in Spirit is a day of action and remembrance. The event is being organized by the Southwest Aboriginal Health Access Centre (SOAHAC), the Guelph Community Health Centre and Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
Indigenous women only make up four per cent of the population in Canada, but 50 per cent of those who experience trafficking. They are two times as likely to experience sexual assault and intimate partner violence than non-Indigenous women, and four times more likely to die by femicide.
Those rates are higher for gender-diverse Indigenous people, said Cindy McMann, public educator for GWWIC, in a news release.
Last August, the federal government declared gender-based violence an epidemic, and Guelph followed suit in December, declaring an epidemic of intimate partner violence alongside 94 other Ontario cities.
“To address this epidemic meaningfully, Guelph and municipalities across the country will need to bring more attention and awareness to the ways in which Indigenous women, girls and 2S+ folks are impacted by gender-based violence and to develop strategies to curb the additional layers of violence and barriers to support facing Indigenous people,” McMann said.
Red dresses will hang throughout the park as a visual reminder of those who have been killed or gone missing. The community is invited to walk through the installation at any time during the day, or to join for the event at 6:30 p.m., which will include speakers, music, and a meditative walk to support the families, loved ones and communities impacted by the MMIWG2S+ crisis.
The event will provide space for reflection on the impacts of the violence, and for remembrance and healing.
Learn more here.
