Red Dress Day march for missing and murdered women to take place in Iqaluit

Inuit women and girls experience rates of violence

14 Times Higher Than National Average

By Trevor Wright Northern News Services Iqaluit

The Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council, alongside the Agvik YWCA, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and the Government of Nunavut are hosting a march in Iqaluit together on May 5, Red Dress Day.

The day is an annual event in memory of

Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, with the red dress symbolizing the missing women and girls. The march will be taking place 3 p.m. Friday, May 5 starting with a small ceremony at the Qulliit office (building 978B), then ending at the Iqaluit Centennial Library around 4 p.m.

“Inuit women experience violence at a rate 14 times higher than the national average. Indigenous women are more likely to experience physical or sexual abuse during childhood then non-Indigenous women,” said Cate Macleod, executive director of the Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council. She adds non-Indigenous people need to understand the higher frequency of gender-based violence against Inuit and Indigenous women and girls must be understood in the context of colonization and the way it changed traditional ways of life.

“It is vital that non-Indigenous people understand colonization and the role governments played in creating these injustices,” said Macleod.

“It is our job to listen, learn and understand that solutions and healing must be led by Indigenous People.”

Qulliit is currently planning to launch a yearlong artistic initiative to honour Nunavut’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and will provide more detail in a future update.