Red Dress Day 2023

RED DRESS DAY

Red Dress Day on May 5th marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit People (MMIWG2S) in Canada. UBC’s First Nations House of Learning (FNHL), led by Dr. Margaret Moss, a nurse, and the UBC School of Nursing, led by Dr. Helen Brown and Dr. Elsabeth Bailey, together honour the lives of Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S people and remember those who are missing and murdered. As nurses, we walk in solidarity with their families, loved ones, and communities.

Image: RED Dress displayed outside of the UBC First Nations Longhouse during the MMIWG Final Report Conference 2019. Photo credit: M. Moss, 2019

STATEMENT

As current and future health care leaders,

we call on Canadian society

to recognize the systemic disregard for Indigenous Peoples’ human rights

and to help stop colonialism’s violence, injustice, and atrocities.

On May 5th, and every day, we urge all nurses

to become involved, raise awareness, and join actions/movements

to build a just and more peaceful society,

particularly for those affected families whose lives have been altered forever.

THE RED DRESS PROJECT

The REDress Project was created by Indigenous artist Jamie Black in 2010 to raise awareness to MMIWG and LGBTQ2S as an art installation project. On Feb 14th, 2023, the BSN Class of 2024 created their very own Red Dress Art Project to honour the 32nd Annual February 14th Women’s Memorial March held in Vancouver. This project, pictured here, illustrates the students’ commitment to understanding the colonial roots of the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against MMIWG2S, and their role as nurses to end violence and support healing. They created red dress ribbon skirts and added their words to support healing, compassion and action within and beyond the health care system.

NATIONAL INQUIRY

It is estimated that 4,000 Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people have gone missing between 1980-2021. The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, released in 2019, concluded that the staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls amount to race-based genocide. The Final Report notes that gender-based violence includes not only women and girls but also LGBTQ2S (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, queer, and two-spirited) people. At the First Nations House of Learning (FNHL), we continue to reflect on the voices, information, and lessons shared at a MMIWG conference hosted shortly after the issuance of the Final Report.

Also worth noting is that one of the three underlying documents shaping UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan is the National Inquiry’s MMIWG Final Report, with its 231 Calls to Justice. The other two are the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.