Red Dress Day
Red Dress Day, or Red Dress Campaign, is an annual event held by the REDress Project in memory of the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada. This event was originally held on May 5, 2010, and continues annually. The event is sometimes held on other dates throughout the year to coincide with other days of action, such as National Indigenous Peoples Day. Associated names with this event include National Day of Awareness For Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls. Red Dress Day is one of several campaigns started by activists to call attention to disproportionate rates of violence against Indigenous women. Background Inspired by the work of Métis artist Jaime Black that would go on to spark the REDress Project, this day draws attention to the more than 1,000 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Canada. The project was started in 2010 after Black displayed an installation at the University of Winnipeg that included a series of empty red dresses to honour and symbolize the lost lives of Indigenous women at the hands of violence. On this day, participants are encouraged to display empty red dresses in public spaces or wear