Annual Women's Memorial March – February 14
Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People!
34th Annual Women's Memorial March, Vancouver, February 14, 2025
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Every year on February 14, people across Turtle Island gather
for the
Women's Memorial March to honour the lives of Missing and
Murdered
Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S), and to
demand
justice that has long been denied. The march began in 1992 in
Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside following the murder of Cheryl Ann Joe of the
Shíshálh Nation on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast.
This march has grown into an annual act of remembrance and
resistance
held across Turtle Island. The Women's Memorial March is not
only about
remembering those missing and murdered,
it is about demanding justice, an end to impunity, and an end to
violence against Indigenous women and girls.
Colonial Genocide and Targeting of Indigenous Women
The
genocide of Indigenous women and girls is not something that
began
recently. Since colonization, Indigenous women have been
purposely
targeted and attacked by the Crown, the Canadian state and
settlers
egged on by the state.
In many Nations, Indigenous women and girls held respected roles
within
communities and
were involved in political decision-making. Furthermore,
Indigenous
women held inherent and distinct rights by virtue of being
women, and
actively participated in all aspects of society, unlike women in
many
other countries during the same period. Colonial violence sought
to
dismantle this power by
attacking Indigenous women's bodies, identities, and roles,
recognizing
that the targeting of Indigenous women was a way to attack
Indigenous
Nations, their political systems and therefore their
self-determination
and self-governance.
Mass murder, sexual violence, the Indian Act and its enduring implications for Indigenous women, forced sterilization, the child welfare system, exploitation of the land, state violence, and police impunity, are all ways in which Indigenous women have been put into vulnerable positions and seen as fair game and less than human. These interconnected forms of violence are not isolated incidents, but part of an ongoing colonial, racist, and sexist structure that dehumanizes Indigenous women's lives and bodies, and negates Indigenous women's right to decide.
National Inquiry and Calls for Justice
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, was released on June 3, 2019 after two years of public hearings and testimony. The report contains 231 Calls for Justice aimed at governments, institutions, industries and Canadians. These calls were designed to address systemic root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Yet, in 2024, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) found that out of the 231 Calls for Justice, only two have been fully implemented. Furthermore, many remain with minimal or no progress.
Security and Safety Lies in the Fight for the Rights of All!
An
end to the violence faced by Indigenous women and girls goes
beyond
laws and bureaucracy. It requires the removal of colonial
systems that
continue to oppress Indigenous Peoples, and the full exercise of
self-determination and self-governance by Indigenous Peoples.
This
means encouraging
Indigenous women and girls to lead the design of services that
meet
their needs and ensure their safety and dignity. This includes
guaranteeing that adequate programs and social supports are
available
and accessible, grounded in the specific needs of Indigenous
women and
girls; recognizing the
inherent, hereditary, and human rights of Indigenous peoples;
and
keeping Indigenous children with their families and communities
by
investing in Nation-building rather than Nation-destruction.
Justice matters and ending impunity is essential. Remembrance and honouring are equally vital, because missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls are not statistics, they are human beings with voices, knowledge, and lived experience that should be at the forefront, alongside all Indigenous women, girls, and Indigenous Peoples as a whole.
May the Canadian working class join Indigenous Peoples in the fight to break the shackles of oppression and exploitation.
Our Security Lies in the Fight for the Rights of All!
Say Their Names, Honour Their Lives!
End Impunity for Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls!
End the Genocide Against Indigenous Women and Girls!
Women's Memorial March, Victoria, February 10, 2024
This article was published in
Volume 56
Number 3 - February 12, 2026
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/TML2026/Articles/T560031.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca