A major social issue facing Canada is the outstanding and significant amount of missing and murdered Indigenous women. There are over 600 missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada, and it seems nothing is being done by the Canadian government to address this issue.
An installation, (a process whereby red dresses are installed in various locations to show awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women) called The REDress Project by artist Jamie Black shows the impact of gender and racialized violence against Indigenous women. The project comes from a feminist perspective, although there are different forms or groupings of feminism, the common theme being that the relationship between the sexes is one of inequality or oppression (Mullaly, 2007, p.161). Violence against Indigenous women is clearly an inequality between the sexes as more women are being brutally murdered. The Canadian government appeared to take no action to address this issue. Intersectional feminism (which is a form of feminism) interlocks oppression and inequalities between gender, race and racism. The REDress Project was formed to address the inequalities and oppression among Indigenous women. Although there are many groups and projects that attempt to address this particular issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women; the REDress Project is unique in that it promotes awareness using an artistic lens in which to address this issue. -Kerri
Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work. Canada: Oxford University Press.
I feel I live in a world where men and women are equal- probably because I have never encountered a situation where I have felt inferior to a man, or lacked opportunities compared to a male member in my family. This makes me think of the different lives we live, even though we are living in the same world. Reading this post and hearing these stories made me realize that women's right to equality is still far away (farther away than I thought).
ReplyDelete- Morgan
I have never heard of the REDress project before I read your post. It's great that the issue of violence against Aboriginal women is getting addressed. I think people don't realize how much more brutally harmed Aboriginal women are until they actually look into it. This artistic form of feminism is very interesting as I believe sends a powerful message with the red dresses. It's sad that nothing can really be done to find missing women, but we can still try harder by making sure that more missing persons posters are being seen by all Canadians. Not only will this bring more awareness of the inequality of the issue but it may also help save a life or put an end to the stress of the awaiting family.
ReplyDeleteDora
Great Post Kerri, I actually attended this installation and it was amazing, I feel that we still have a long way to go to end the unnecessary violence Indigenous women are subject to, and it is sad that nothing is being done at government levels and if it has been it has been defunded or cut there is the conservative government for you! I enjoyed your post and I feel it is extremely important for people to know about because it is impacting not only Indigenous women but Indigenous families.
ReplyDelete-Danielle
Hello Kerri!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I wanted to comment on this because I believe the Womyn's Center at the university is looking at doing a project based on this idea, and are wanting to highlight this very issue of Indigenous women being so marginalized. My suggestion is to go to the Womyn's Center and talk with them about how to get involved.
~Shauna
Great post Kerri. I wasn't aware of the Redress project. I just learned of it, as a result of reading your post - interesting. I was just curious, as I went to class this morning (November 17), I seen a bunch of red dresses hung on tress (outside St johns college @ U of M). I tried to look online, but couldn't find out what that was about. Is this in relation to your post? Does anyone know anything about it?
ReplyDeleteDara
Good Post Kerri! I too did not know about the Redress project. It is very interesting. I agree the governemnt needs to do more to support and empower these women. Their voices need to be heard and they need to take a important role in directing action and change. I feel like we have a long way to go to helping and empowering these women. The governement needs to take an active role and address this issue. It is important to remember that it is not just the women who are affected but their families especially children are also affected. Action needs to be taken to empower them.
ReplyDeleteLori
I was waiting for a bus the other day and saw a paper taped to a poll asking if anyone had seen the girl in the picture. It said she was stepped into a vehicle a year ago and that no one has seen her since. It's unreal to believe there are 600 more stories throughout Canada with no answers and little awareness.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Kel
Dara, yes it is there was an installation at the University of Winnipeg. Shauna, the artist actuallt did a presentation in one of my classes so i assume she is not to hard to contact if the Womyn's Center wanted to try getting a hold of her.
ReplyDeleteHey, well I like so many others who have commented did not know about this project either and have also noticed the red dresses hanging outside saint john's. It's an interesting display and the red really catches the eye but how are the people who pass it suppose to know that it's in relation to the REDress project? What's to stop them from thinking that someone just decided to dress up the trees? (not the best example, but still)How are people suppose to get more information about it, considering most people would probably only question the red dresses in passing. Do you think this idea is really the most effective way of raising awareness? Thought? (note: that I'm not saying that this isn't a good idea, just that maybe more should be done to increase the likelihood of people getting the information about the project)
ReplyDelete- Jody
Aboriginal women are at disadvantage on various levels, one for being a woman and another for being Aboriginal. The fact that the Canadian government is not doing anything to recognize the issues regarding the history of murders and disapearances of Aboriginal women just shows how little they are thought of, as persons. You are right in that something needs to be done by our government to change this. Good post.
ReplyDelete-Medina
A few years a go Efry manitoba hosted a workshop on this subject. There was one point that was made is that when a missing woman is white, blond and blue eyed that she made the front page of the news and stayed there for a while, yet if it was an aboriginal women if lucky ended up somewhere in the paper but generally it never gets reported.
ReplyDeleteLisa
I think it is great that you did a post on this since most people (including myself) see the dresses and wonder what they mean but never know what it means. I think it is very important as social work students to be spreading information on stuff like this since it is apalling that so many indigenous women have gone missing and the efforts are not being made to find them.
ReplyDeleteLeah