YWCA – Red Dress Day 2026: Bearing Witness to the MMIWG2S+ Crisis

Press Release

May 5, 2026

Every year on May 5, communities across Canada come together to mark the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ People (MMIWG2S+), commonly known as Red Dress Day. It is a day of remembrance, reflection, and action; one that calls attention to ongoing violence rooted in colonialism and systemic injustice.

The statistics alone reveal a devastating reality. In Canada, Indigenous women are four times more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women. While Indigenous women make up less than 5% of the population, they account for 24% of all female homicide victims. These numbers are not coincidental; they reflect a long history of displacement, discrimination, and deliberate policy failures.

A Legacy of Colonial Violence

Violence against Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse people cannot be understood without acknowledging the legacy of colonialism in Canada. Generations of harmful policies forced displacement, residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and ongoing child welfare and justice system inequities have created conditions that increase vulnerability while denying protection and accountability.

These systemic failures led directly to the demand for national recognition and action.

MMIWG and the Path to Truth and Reconciliation

On December 8, 2015, the federal government launched the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #41. The Inquiry was mandated to examine the systemic, social, economic, cultural, institutional, and historical causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people and to provide concrete recommendations to prevent future harm.

The Inquiry’s Final Report, Reclaiming Power and Place, concluded that the crisis is driven by persistent violations of human and Indigenous rights, structural racism, colonial and patriarchal systems, and deep-rooted marginalization. Survivors and families shared powerful testimonies highlighting how intergenerational trauma, poverty, insecure housing, barriers to healthcare and education, and diminished social status all increase exposure to violence.

The Inquiry unequivocally determined that this ongoing violence amounts to genocide against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

The Calls for Justice

The Final Report issued 231 Calls for Justice, addressed not only to governments, but to institutions, industries, social service providers, and all Canadians. These Calls demand transformational change across policing, healthcare, education, child welfare, and the justice system, while confronting systemic racism and discrimination.

They also emphasize the increased risks linked to resource extraction and transient workforces, underscoring the need for accountability beyond individual acts of violence. Justice, the report makes clear, requires both immediate safety measures and long-term structural reform.

Why Red Dresses?

Red Dress Day is closely tied to the REDress Project, a powerful art installation created in 2010 by Métis artist Jaime Black-Morsette. The project features empty red dresses,

hung in trees, displayed on buildings, or placed in public spaces, to symbolize the Indigenous women and girls who are missing or have been murdered.

The red dresses represent absence and loss, but also persistence They refuse silence. Installed across Canada and the United States, the REDress Project has become one of the most recognized and moving visual calls to action in the country.

Honouring Lives, Demanding Change

Red Dress Day is not only about remembrance. It’s about responsibility.

At YWCA, we believe that gender justice, racial justice, and Indigenous rights are inseparable. Honouring the lives taken too soon means committing ourselves to action that challenges violence, supports survivors, and advances reconciliation in practice, not just in words.

How You Can Take Action on Red Dress Day

Everyone has a role to play in ending violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. On May 5, you can:

Wear red in solidarity and remembrance

Attend a local vigil or Red Dress Day event

Write to your elected officials, demanding full implementation of the 231 Calls for Justice

Amplify Indigenous voices, especially survivors, families, and community leaders

Continue learning about the roots of colonial violence and your role in reconciliation

True justice requires sustained commitment. On Red Dress Day 2026, and beyond, let us honour lives through action, accountability, and collective care.

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