Red Dress Day is on Friday (May 5) in commemorating more than 1,000 Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people who have gone missing or have been murdered.
Students at Dr. Charles Best Secondary have marked the annual recognition by hanging a series of red dresses along Como Lake Avenue on Tuesday (May 2).
It's the third year the Coquitlam high school has participated in the nation-wide awareness initiative.
Known as the REDress Project, it began in 2014 by Métis artist Jamie Black.
Commuters, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to see the dresses, in various styles and designs, hung in trees the on the northern side in front of Dr. Charles Best and on the southern side in Mundy Park.
@tricitynews A solemn reminder. 🔴 #tricitynews #coquitlam #comolake #charlesbest #mundypark #mmiwg2s #redressproject ♬ original sound - TriCityNews
There are also cut-out paper dresses that include statements, as well as QR code links, from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S).
"Seventy per cent of the women and girls disappeared from an urban area. Sixty per cent found murdered," one paper dress read.
"Indigenous women are six times more likely to be murdered than non-Indigenous women, and more than twice as likely to experience violence than any other demographic," read another.
As well, some of the full-size dresses include photos and a biography of women, girls and two-spirit people, ranging from teenagers to adults, who went missing and were never found or presumably murdered.
Dr. Charles Best students also created a display in the main lobby of the school with more information in hopes that classmates will take a moment to read.
In Port Moody, city hall is set to light up red on Friday night as a sign of solidarity for the REDress Project.
