The 15th Annual Valentine’s Day Memorial March Rocks Calgary

Close to 600 people took part in the annual Valentine’s Day march for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Peoples.

The march which started at 6:30pm in the Scarboro United Church is held annually to call attention to the upsetting numbers of women who went missing and were never heard from again, or found dead.

The Marchers are mostly the victim’s friends and family members, including community members who lend their voice to the cause. Drums were heard through Calgary on Tuesday night as marchers carried red cut-outs and frames with names of the missing and murdered women.

Before the march started, partakers heard speeches and saw performances. The March organizers said organizations were asked to leave their banners at home in respect to the honored women.

Statistics provided by the organizers reveals that “indigenous women are five times more likely to die as a result of violence than any other group of women in Canada.” Same statistics show that “indigenous women are at a greater risk of being assaulted by an intimate partner, and are equally at risk of being assaulted by a stranger.”

This, according to the statistics, is “a clear indication of the racist and sexist underpinnings of violence against Aboriginal women.”

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