Marchers raise awareness about numbers of missing and murdered indigenous women
February 14, 2019 07:12 PM
Marchers gathered Thursday to raise awareness about the numbers of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
The Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women’s March was organized by the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition and started with a rally at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. From there, marchers moved down Franklin Avenue to Cedar and through the Little Earth Hosing Community before circling back.
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It marked the fifth year the march has been held. An advance release said a crowd of 500 to 600 participants was expected.
Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein was expected to speak at the opening rally.
A study from the Urban Indian Health Institute called “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls” shows the scale of the problem nationally.
It includes numbers from the National Crime Information Center, which show that in 2016 there were 5,712 reports of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Yet only 116 were logged in the Department of Justice NamUs Missing Persons Database.