May 5 marks Red Dress Day across Canada, a day to both remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people and to take action to raise awareness and, ultimately, make a change. 

A report from Statistics Canada in 2023 found that between 2009 and 2021, Indigenous women and girls were six times more likely than non-Indigenous women and girls to be murdered. 

It also found that police were less likely to recommend a first-degree murder charge — about 27 per cent of the time — if the victim was Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous victims — about 54 per cent of the time.