Seventh Annual Sisters in Spirit Vigils will be held October 4

Ottawa (01 Oct. 2012) – The seventh annual Sisters in Spirit Vigils will take place October 4 across Canada to honour murdered and missing Aboriginal women and their families. The vigils take many forms including rallies, candle-light vigils, workshops and walks.

 

The Sisters in Spirit (SIS) is an initiative launched by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) to address the issue of the hundreds of Aboriginal women and girls who have either disappeared or have been found murdered in Canada over the past few decades. The SIS Initiative has worked to identify root causes, trends and circumstances of violence that have led to these disappearances and deaths. The initiative ended in March 31, 2010 due to funding cuts. 

 

NWAC will continue to work on this issue with the development of the Evidence to Action project which adds the development of tools and resources to enable communities, educators, police, victim services and the justice system to better respond to experiences of violence faced by Aboriginal women and girls.

 

This year, 129 Sisters in Spirit vigils have been registered across Canada and the international community will be hosting vigils and also a virtual candlelight vigil. 

 

A joint statement will be read calling for all levels of government to work with Aboriginal women and representative organizations to address this issue. It also announces that NWAC is issuing a petition calling on the federal government to hold a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls and that the government involve those most affected by this tragic issue – Aboriginal women – in the design, decision-making, process and implementation of this inquiry. The petitions will be distributed at all the SIS Vigils and will be returned to NWAC for presentation to the federal government. 

 

The National Union once again stands in support of the joint statement and is encouraging its members and all Canadians to show their support by attending a Vigil and signing the petition. Locations for this year’s vigils can be found by clicking here or the link below.

  

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE