We are collaborating with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to display a Red Dress installation to bring awareness to the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The display opens February 4, 2020.

The Red Dress installation brings attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.  These dresses represent thousands of Native American women who go missing every year. Murder rates for Indigenous women in the United States are 10 times the rate of the national average in some areas.  According to the National Crime Information Centre database there were 5,712 Native American women reported missing in 2016 and of those only 116 were entered into the Department of Justice’s missing person database.  Many cases go unreported so the statistics are likely higher. The insufficient data, shortage of police follow through, and the lack of media attention all add to this national epidemic.

To understand the context of the overwhelming number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States, it is necessary to understand the historical trauma of Native people.  Native Americans continue to deal with the repercussions of colonialism, including removal from Native lands, forced assimilation, and Indian boarding schools. A tragic result of historical trauma is continued misunderstanding and prejudice toward Indigenous people, which is often a basis for the violence faced by Native women and girls.

Indigenous women deserve better.  They deserve to be protected but it is not just Native women who go missing.  In Ohio, the stealing and trafficking of women is a serious issue. No one should go missing.  

For further information, reach out to Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition at gcnacoalition@gmail.com.