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Red Dress Day: The Impacts of Racial and Gender-Based Violence

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Red Dress Day was first observed in 2010 to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S). Every year on May 5, we honour those no l​onger with us and acknowled​ge the families and communities who continue to be deeply impacted by loss and live with unanswered questions ​about their loved ones.​​​​​

​​​​Red Dress Day​ Installation​

Drawing inspiration from The REDress Project, the City of Brampton created an art installation to draw attention to the staggering number of women and girls who are no longer with us and who are victims of gender-based violence and intimate-partner violence. This project serves to raise greater awareness about the epidemic of violence against MMIWG2S and the need for meaningful action to affect change.

Where: Ken Whillans Square (2 Wellington Street West)
When: From May 2 - 31, 2024

The installation has been created in partnership with The Indigenous Network and the Peel Regional Police, who are working alongside the City of Brampton to raise awareness about MMIWG2S.

"Indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected by violence and it’s incumbent on all of us to do more to ensure their safety and well-being. We must raise our voices to bring awareness and action to honour and give a voice to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit individuals. We stand alongside and continue to work with Indigenous communities across the country that seek and deserve justice to create a safer and more inclusive society."
Chief Nishan Duraiappah, Peel Regional Police​​

History of Red Dress Day

Jaime Black, a Métis artist, created The REDress Project with the goal of honouring and bringing awareness to the thousands of Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people who have been murdered and missing. Black's inspiration came from a group of women in Bogotá, Colombia who had gathered for a demonstration to raise awareness about their family members who had gone missing without any recourse. Many of the women speaking out were wearing red dresses.1

Within the first year of the REDress Proj​ect, 300 dresses were donated by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people demonstrating their support for the families and communities of MMIWG2S. As a result, Red Dress installations continue to be displayed across Canada as a reminder of the ongoing gender and racial nature of violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people.

When interviewed about The REDress Project, Black explained that the installation is intended to evoke a presence through the marking of absence2 and create space for women to tell their stories and lead to meaningful action to prevent future violence.3

"The chances are that if you know an Indigenous person, they're related to someone who's gone missing or murdered, that's how common this is."
Lori Camp​bell, Associate Vice-President for Indigenous Engagement at the University of Regina​​​​​

City of Brampton's Commitment

In 2019, the City of Brampton passed a motion which endorsed:

  • The Calls to Action in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report
  • The Calls to Justice in the 2019 National Inquiry into MMIWG final report.

This motion also includes the development of a meaningful engagement strategy, working closely with The Indigenous Network, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Region of Peel and the Peel District School Board.

Learning from the findings and recommendations of national reports on MMIWG2S, the City will use them as frameworks to encourage important conversations, educate the community and take meaningful action to address these forms of ongoing violence.

In 2023, the City of Brampton declared gender-based and intimate partner violence an epidemic.

By creating this installation, the City is calling attention to the impacts of colonization, racism, and violence on Indigenous women, girls and Two-S​pirit people, their families and their communities.​​

Violence towards MMIWG2S in Canada has been linked to historic factors like racism, colonialism, sexism and the devastation caused by the residential school system. As a result of policies and practices upholding these forms of racism and sexism, other systems also contribute to the ongoing violence experienced by MMIWG2S including:

  • Education
  • Health care
  • Child welfare
  • Legal
  • Justice 4

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found that there are no reliable estimates of the number of MMIWG2S persons in Canada and that there is virtually no information about the numbers or causes of missing and murdered Inuit and Métis women, girls and Two-Spirit persons.5 The numbers of MMIWG2S individuals have been estimated from the following sources below:

2014: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police released 'Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview', which looked at incidents of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across all police jurisdictions in Canada. The report identified 1,181 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.6

2016: While in the role of Minister of Status of Women, Patty Hajdu shared with the media that based on research from the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), the number of MMIWG2S could be as high as 4,000.7

2019: The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its findings and final report, including 231 Calls to Justice for governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians.8

Between 2009 and 2021, the rate of homicide against First Nations, Métis and Inuit women and girls was 6x higher than the rate among their non-Indigenous counterparts.9

81% of Indigenous women and girls were killed by someone that they knew.

  • 35% by an intimate partner
  • 24% by an acquaintance
  • 22% by a family member10

Police were less likely to lay or recommend a charge of first-degree murder when the victim was Indigenous (27%) compared to when she was not (54%).11

Indigenous women make up 16% of all female homicide victims and 11% of missing women, yet Indigenous people make up only 4.3% of the population of Canada.12

58% of 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous people were assaulted by an adult when they were under the age of 15 versus 26% of non-2SLGBTQIA+ non-Indigenous people of the same age.13

63% of Indigenous women have experienced physical or sexual assault in their lifetime.14

Between 2001 and 2014, the territories and prairies had a police-reported homicide rate for Indigenous women that was higher than the overall rate in Canada.15

231: Number of Calls to Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' (MMIWG2S) final report.

National Inquiry into MMIWG Final Report

#41: The Call to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report which calls upon the federal government to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Indigenous women and girls in consultation with the Indigenous community.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Final Report

Learn More

Our Partners

We would like to thank our partners below for their support in raising awareness about MMIWG2S alongside the City of Brampton:

Sources
  1. Allaire, C. (2021, April 7). How Red Dresses Became a Symbol for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/jaime-black-red-dress-project-missing-murdered-indigenous-women
  2. Black, J. (2020). THE REDRESS PROJECT. https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/exhibitions/
  3. CBC Kids News. (2023, May 5). Red Dress Day: What it is and how it began. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/red-dress-day-what-it-is-and-how-it-began#:~:text=Campbell said this violence stems,won't be missed.”
  4. Juschka, A. (2019, October 15). MMIWG - FROM TRUTH TO ACTION, YWCA Metro Vancouver, https://ywcavan.org/blog/2019/10/mmiwg-truth-action
  5. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019, June). RECLAIMING POWER AND PLACE Volume 1b. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1b.pdf
  6. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2014). Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview, https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/wam/media/460/original/0cbd8968a049aa0b44d343e76b4a9478.pdf
  7. Tasker, J. P. (2016, February 17). Confusion reigns over number of missing, murdered indigenous women, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mmiw-4000-hajdu-1.3450237
  8. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). RECLAIMING POWER AND PLACE. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
  9. Burczycka, M., Cotter, A. (2023, October 4). Court outcomes in homicides of Indigenous women and girls, 2009 to 2021. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2023001/article/00006-eng.htm
  10. Assembly of First Nations. (n.d.). Our Work - We advocate for meaningful action to end violence against women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. https://afn.ca/rights-justice/murdered-missing-indigenous-women-girls/
  11. Perreault, S. (2022, July 19). Victimization of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00012-eng.htm
  12. Heidinger, L. (2022, April 26). Violent victimization and perceptions of safety: Experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women in Canada. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00004-eng.htm
  13. Research and Statistics Division. (2017, July). Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Justice Canada. Date Modified: January 20, 2023. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/jf-pf/2017/july04.html
  14. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. (n.d.). Reports. https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports
  15. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019, June). RECLAIMING POWER AND PLACE Volume 1a. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf ​​

Contact the Equity Office

Corporation of the City of Brampton,
2 Wellington Street West,
Brampton, ON, L6Y 4R2

Land Acknowledgement

The City of Brampton is located on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Haudenosaunee, and Wendat Nations who have called this land home since time immemorial. We acknowledge the agreements made in Treaty 19 — the Ajetance Purchase of 1818 — and are committed to our ongoing role in reconciliation through meaningful action rooted in truth, justice, and respect. We are grateful to the original caretakers of this land who have ensured we are able to work, play, and live in Brampton now and in the future.