Community Members Invited to Honour Red Dress Day
The City of Saskatoon and Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik (Women Walking Together) invite families and community members to join them in recognizing Red Dress Day on May 5—the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ People. The day aims to honour, and to broaden and sharpen societal awareness of the thousands of Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people who have experienced disproportionate violence in Canada. This year's events include a focus on the prevention of future violence against these groups in our community.
The day will begin with a Knowledge Sharing event at Cosmo Civic Centre, featuring information booths focused on raising awareness of safety, domestic violence, human trafficking and its risk factors, and current community supports. The goal of the Knowledge Sharing is to build capacity within the community to prevent and ultimately eliminate the risk that Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit+ individuals face in everyday life. Community members can register for a session on Training Active Bystanders, where they will gain tools for responsible intervention and supporting those in need while avoiding complicity through inaction.
The Red Dress Day Walk will follow the Knowledge Sharing. The walk was started three years ago in Saskatoon by Faith Bosse, daughter of Daleen Bosse, a 25-year-old University of Saskatchewan student, wife, and mother, who disappeared in 2004 and was later found murdered. Faith explains, “As the daughter of a missing and murdered Indigenous woman, hosting this walk is important to me, and being her voice, as well as the voice of other women and girls, who are still missing or have been taken away from their families. My main goal is to get the message out to our community and also educate them about the dangers we as Indigenous women face every day.”
Darlene Okemaysim-Sicotte is a 20 plus year member and co-chair of Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik (Women Walking Together), one of the partner organizations for Red Dress Day. Darlene affirms, "Red Dress Day is for families of MMIWG 2SLGBTQQIA to share their love about their missing loved ones. Nothing about us without us."
Other partners coming together to host Red Dress Day include the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), Métis Nation—Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon, Central Urban Métis Federation Inc., University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Police Service, and Family Information Liaison Units (Department of Justice, Government of Canada). Financial support for the event comes from the Government of Saskatchewan’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls+ Community Response Fund.
For details on Red Dress Day events, visit http://www.saskatoon.ca/reddress
For media interview requests please contact:
Carrie Catherine, Event Organizer: 306-241-6297 makesharechange@gmail.com