A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network
The missing and murdered women of Juárez are more than statistics and data points. They are beloved daughters who have left behind an unimaginable and senseless void. They are the fuel of activism against impunity and injustice. They are the seeds of grief that blossom into art. And they are beautiful, fragile memories that must be preserved.
Read more here and view the video. Very poignant.
Across the United States, over 5,700 indigenous women were reported missing in 2016 alone, with only 116 of those cases logged into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) missing persons database. This statistic is the tip of the iceberg of the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.
But while seven states have taken steps to pass legislation to improve reporting mechanisms and data collection, and increase inter-agency collaboration, any such MMIW legislation has not passed on a federal level.
Read more here and sign the petition, please.
Executive Summary of the Final Report (Canada).
The truths shared in these National Inquiry hearings tell the story – or, more accurately, thousands of stories – of acts of genocide against
First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. This violence amounts to a race-based genocide of Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, which especially targets women. girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. This genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, residential schools, and breaches of human and Inuit, Métis and First Nations rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations.
The Canadian Unitarian Council acknowledges the systemic and ongoing nature of colonization of Indigenous peoples, land, and resources on this land. We are becoming more aware of the many ways in which colonization unjustly privileges settlers at the expense of Indigenous peoples. We acknowledge the findings and calls to justice of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Final Report, and that these require immediate attention.
Read More here CUC-Response-to-MMIW-FINAL-1
In the Washington State Legislature, HB 1713 on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has passed the House. Now onto the Senate . . .
Read the bill history to date here and follow the bill’s progress here.