Thank you so much to BCANDS for their incredible awareness campaign, Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. You can check out their campaign by following their page on Twitter @BCANDS1 with #IDAM2021 

Today, November 25, marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and les 12 jours d’action contre les violences faites aux femmes. To commemorate activism against GBV, DAWN Canada is sharing recommendations for the National Action Plan on violence against women and GBV from Indigenous women, Deaf women, and collective recommendations from women with disabilities.  

24% of women in Canada live with a disability and women, girls, and non-binary people with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of violence. The risk of experiencing violence increases if they are young, racialized, Indigenous, 2SLGBTQIA+, immigrants, migrant workers, non-status migrants, or those who live rurally. Understanding and addressing GBV must be intersectional at every stage. 

As we enter our last days of November and Indigenous Disability Awareness Month #IDAM2021, we will begin by sharing recommendations for the National Action Plan from Indigenous experts. Indigenous women with disabilities must be at the center of action against GBV to address the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.  

The campaign ends on December 10, International Human Rights Day. Gender-based violence is a human rights issue and prevention and action must be intersectional, anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-ableist.