PHOTOGRAPHY
A Haunting Exhibit — May 29, 2024
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Did you know that Indigenous women are 4x more likely than non-Indigenous women to be victims of violence? When it comes to the homicide rate, First Nations, Inuit or Métis women and girls are almost 6x more at risk than other Canadian women.
In Canada, thousands of Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered over a period of several decades. The bias of the RCMP (Canadian police) has led to inconsistent reporting and improper investigations.
In the US, in 2016, “there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing person database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases.” (Source: National Crime Information Center)
I came across the phrase ‘Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ (MMIWG) during my days as a digital journalist. In 2010, I was at the first National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission organized at The Forks, which profoundly affected my vision of Canada and led me to educate myself as much as I could. The following year, I visited the University of Winnipeg to view the REDress Project.
