For the 30th consecutive year, the families of missing and murdered women, community members and supporters will gather in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to march in their honour.
The annual Women’s Memorial March has been held in since 1992, when community members gathered to mark the murder of a woman on Powell Street.
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“Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine’s Day to express compassion, community and caring for all women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, unceded Coast Salish Territories,” according to organizers.
Organizers say Indigenous women continue to be disproportionately represented among missing and murdered women, with “minimal to no action” to address the systemic nature of gendered violence.
The event includes a gathering at Main and Hastings streets, where family members speak in remembrance.
A march follows, proceeding through the neighbourhood and stopping to mark locations where women were last seen or were found.
Organizers say COVID-19 protocols are in effect, and people are expected to wear masks and practice physical distancing.