In June 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its final report. It includes 231 Calls for Justice designed to end the violence against Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit/LGBTQ+ people and promote their equality. At that time, our union promised to press governments for swift action, and began to do so.
And then the pandemic struck. COVID-19 grabbed public attention and made it harder to gather together, offer one another support, and break the isolation of those living with violence.
But the pandemic and safety for Indigenous women and girls are closely linked. Recovering from the pandemic means addressing the needs identified in the national inquiry’s report, which include better health care, access to safe housing and women’s decision-making power over their own lives and bodies.
To mark October 4, tell a politician that we need action on the 231 Calls for Justice. And please attend an October 4 event in your community or online. Check with women’s shelters or Indigenous people’s organizations in your home community, or google “2020 sisters in spirit vigil near me” or “2020 mmiwg vigil near me.”
In solidarity,
Ken Neumann
National Director
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