by Miriam Katawazi
Across the country, Indigenous women are participating in the “Am I Next?” campaign and demanding the Harper government launch an official inquiry into the disproportionately high number of murdered and missing Indigenous women.
Participants are uploading images of themselves on social media with signs that read “#AmINext?” The campaign is hoping to bring attention to a social phenomenon which has been acknowledged but not acted upon by the Harper government.
A March 2014 parliamentary report entitled Invisible Women: Call to Action, the Harper government made 16 recommendations to resolve this issue but rejected demands for a national public inquiry. The decision sparked outrage across the country.
Two months later, an RCMP report stated that Indigenous women are more prone to violent deaths than non-Indigenous women.
The campaign has served as an inspiration for other campaigns across the country. Another social media campaign, calling itself “I’m Not Next,” sprung up to try and spread awareness about the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women. This campaign also demands a national inquiry but places agency in the hands of these women who are often portrayed as victims who are inherently prone to violent fates.
In a similar vein, the REDress project hung 130 red dresses on various buildings at the University of Saskatchewan to remind people of women that are missing or murdered.
Holly Jarrett, founder of the “Am I Next?” campaign in Canada, affirmed through Facebook that each campaign shares a unified message that demands a national public inquiry and is trying to build awareness.
The idea of a national public inquiry was raised in the House of Commons on Sept. 19 after an Indigenous MP pleaded for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Romeo Saganash, an NDP member from northern Quebec’s Nunavik region, recalled the death of his five-year-old brother in a residential school 60 years ago.
“The violence that is perpetuated against Indigenous women is the same violence against the environment today,” he said, “The same violence that assaulted parents and grandparents in residential schools.
“There are systemic reasons involved here affecting these women, the structures and attitudes that allow this violence to continue must be examined, exposed, and addressed. The only way to achieve that is through a public inquiry,” he said.
The debate initiated by the NDP will be resumed within 10 sitting days, after which MPs can vote whether or not to adopt the government supported report that does not include a national public inquiry.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 7, No. 1
