Powerful By Nature - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & 2Spirit People

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Date: March 4th, 2019

Hosts:  Rhiannon 

Guests: Krysta, Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator at The Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Topic: Remembering Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2 Spirit People


On March 4th, we talked about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ Two Spirit people. Over the past decades, between 1000 and 4000 Indigenous women in Canada have gone missing or been murdered. A 2015 United Nations report found that Indigenous women in Canada are five times more likely to die under violent circumstances, as compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts, and their murders or disappearances are less likely to be solved. Additionally, the UN reiterated what Indigenous communities have been saying for decades: that Canada’s police and justice system had “failed to effectively protect Indigenous women from violence, hold offenders to account and ensure redress for victims.”
After years of advocacy by Indigenous communities, Justin Trudeau’s Federal Government announced in 2015 the creation of the MMIW Inquiry which was to investigate and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against indigenous women and girls over 2 years.

However, a blistering report released by the Native Women’s Association concluded that the inquiry is unlikely to achieve its mandate and discussed that “unacceptable” breakdowns in “communication, transparency and accountability”on the part of the commission are “effectively re-traumatizing families.”

We talked to Krysta from the Native Youth Sexual Health Network about the many ways Indigenous families and communities remember and fight for justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls & 2Spirit People, specifically focusing on the annual Strawberry Ceremony. The Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN) is an organization by and for Indigenous youth that works across issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice throughout the United States and Canada.
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Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PowerfulXNature
Find the Native Youth Sexual Health Network here: https://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com/



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