“The abuse of women is well known in history and tells you a lot about what is happening on our earth.” – LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Standing Rock Sioux.

The legacy of violence against Indigenous women and children began with the colonial conquest of Europeans coming to the “New World” over 500 years ago, and it still persists today. In North America, the scores of missing and murdered Indigenous and First Nations women and girls —known as MMIWG, an acronym created by Indigenous journalist Sheila North Wilson in 2012—don’t get the mainstream attention they deserve.

In the U.S., homicide is the third-leading cause of death among Native women ages 10 to 24, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute, and Native women are victims of murder more than ten times the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Extractive industries like mining, logging, and fossil fuels are some of the largest perpetuating factors of violence, trafficking, and murder against Indigenous women. And in neighboring countries, factories and drug cartels have made towns like Ciudad Juárez epicenters of violence against Mexican indigenous women.

Nationwide, the voices of Indigenous people have united to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. And though awareness of the crisis is growing, data on the realities of this violence is scarce. On April 1, 2021, newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the formation of a new Missing & Murdered Unit (MMU) within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) to provide leadership and direction for cross-departmental and interagency work involving missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Join us as we talk with Indigenous activists, leaders and journalists about the crisis and explore the ways in which we can activate to support efforts to end the femicides.