The provincial crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women continues; here in Victoria, there will be a gathering and a memorial march on Sunday to remember those women. University of Victoria practicum student Jessica Dawn is an event organizer for the march; she says that governments need to be doing more about the situation, and that the march can help raise awareness.
“We often have an elder who does the prayer,” she says, “and at the Legislature we also have opportunities for speakers from the community, as well as for family members who have lost loved ones, to share their stories.”
Dawn says the government could be doing more to address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, which impacts aboriginal communities all across Canada.
“There have been lots of women and families who have articulated ways for local and federal governments to be more involved and address some of the fundamental funding issues with some of the services to indigenous communities, particularly rural communities,” she says.
Along with funding issues, and issues relating to isolation and lack of transportation, Dawn believes that police departments or investigators may be treating missing indigenous women differently than they would treat other women.
“I think there’s an opportunity for local and federal governments to be doing more,” she says. “I think that in a lot of cases, when a white educated woman goes missing it’s a different profile for indigenous women who have lived what is ‘a high-risk lifestyle.’ So I think perception is an issue, and also the ways in which resources get allocated, and they are not always allocated evenly. I think those are some of the things happening on the Highway of Tears and other places in the country.”
Stolen Sisters Memorial March
11 am Sunday, February 12
Corner of Pandora and Quadra
facebook.com/events/1899247296973512/