Violent legacy of Red Dress Day remembered in Clarington

Red Dress Day is being honoured in Clarington today with displays at Town Hall, recreation facilities and the Bowmanville Library to serve as reminders of the violent legacy against Indigenous women throughout Canada and a call for justice for those who were taken from their families.

“We are committed to creating a community that is safe for everyone,” said Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster. “In Canada, we have lost far too many people to violence that is colonial and gender-based. On Red Dress Day, we mourn and recommit to work together to end this ongoing national blight.”

Red Dress Day, also known as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People, began in 2010 as a response to the more than a thousand missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada and has become a call to action to the disproportionate rates of gender-based violence facing Indigenous communities.

“Today, we remember the Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit People who have gone missing or been murdered in Canada. We honour all the lives lost and those whose lives have been forever changed by this violence,” Foster added.

The red dress symbolizes the pain and loss felt by survivors and loved ones as they await action in response to the unresolved Calls for Justice issued in the report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.