Red Dress Day (or National Day for Awareness of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) is honoured annually on May 5th.  Coined by Métis artist Jamie Black, Red Dress Day, is “an aesthetic response to this critical national issue" and a stark visual reminder of the violence perpetrated against thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, children, and 2-spirit peoples in Canada; many of whom still are missing.

In honouring this day, communities are encouraged to hang red dresses in public spaces as a poignant reminder of the violence that continues to be perpetrated against Indigenous women, children, and 2-spirited peoples. The hanging red dresses also are symbols of the resilience Indigenous women, children, and 2-spirited peoples and their communities demonstrate in the face of continued systemic barriers to equality and racist attitudes that make them more vulnerable to violence.

Also see Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.