ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, NWAC ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST INDIGENOUS WOMEN ACROSS THE AMERICAS

(OTTAWA, March 8) – The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is marking International Women’s Day 2021 by announcing a two-day, online, international Summit of the Americas on Violence Against Indigenous Women to held be later this month.

The event organized by NWAC, will take place on March 29 and 30 and is expected to draw hundreds of people from North and South America who have expressed their desire to put a stop to the ongoing crisis. They will share their ideas about ways to keep Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people safe, and to bring perpetrators to justice.

A National Inquiry in this country found there is no way to accurately count the First Nations, Métis and Inuit lives that have been lost to what the commissioners described as “this Canadian genocide.”

But the murders and disappearances are not contained by the borders of Canada. This is a tragedy that is occurring all across the Americas, and all countries in this hemisphere must dedicate themselves to ending it.

That is why NWAC has decided to host an international forum where best practices can be discussed and international momentum to stop the killings can be generated.

“Grassroots Indigenous women and girls from across the Americas will come together with Indigenous women leaders, representatives from both the Organization of American States and the United Nations, family survivors, and corporate and government leaders to discuss the epidemic of violence against indigenous women and what needs to be done,” says Lynne Groulx, NWAC’s chief executive officer. “An outcome document will be presented to governments and UN officials.”

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and will feature discussions on the impacts of the violence, best practices for countering it, and key lessons that have been learned.

“On International Women’s Day,” said Ms. Groulx in announcing the summit, “Indigenous women stand proudly resilient and determined to be silent no more.”