Women’s Memorial March 2024
On February 14, YWCA Metro Vancouver employees marched in solidarity with families, friends, loved ones and community members in the 33rd annual Women’s Memorial March. Each year, this event honours and remembers the lives of hundreds of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people who have been murdered or are missing.
With representation from various departments across the organization, employees gathered at YWCA Crabtree Corner and walked to the intersection of East Hastings and Main Street. Before the march began, people of all ages gathered for speeches, ceremony and song. Many held signs, expressing support and grief. Over a thousand people attended, marching together and stopping at locations where people were last seen or found.
“The first words that comes to my mind: it was a 'powerful day!’” said Wanda Pelletier, Coordinator of the FASD Key Worker Program at YWCA Crabtree Corner. “The scent of our medicines, the eagles flying above and the drums beating in my heart. To be walking along side so many friends, colleagues and allies felt as if we were all united as one. Hiy Hiy (thank you in my Cree language).”
The grief and solidarity are mixed with frustration. Violence continues to be disproportionate and targeted against Indigenous women and girls, Two-Spirit and trans people. It has been four years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and to date, only two of the 231 Calls for Justice have been completed, while more than half haven’t been started.
We are committed to supporting Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people, and prioritizing truth and reconciliation and decolonization in our work. For more information, please contact Tamara Robertson-Fry at trobertsonfry@ywcavan.org | 604 895 5860.
