Activists Marched for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women | Teen Vogue

17.2.18

Ruth Hopkins / Feb 15, 2018 12:41PM EST // Activists Marched for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women | Teen Vogue: There is an epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada and the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the third-leading cause of death among native women between 10 and 24 years of age. A 2016 study funded by the National Institute of Justice reported that four out of five American Indian women have experienced violence in their lifetimes and that they are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other U.S. citizens.

Sunny Red Bear is a Lakota writer, activist, and advocate for sexual abuse prevention from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who was previously involved in several Denver #MMIW marches and coordinated the Remember the Hearts of Our Women #MMIW March this year in Rapid City, along with her friend Cante Heart, who is also Lakota. The area is not without its own #MMIW cases; 21-year-old Larissa Lonehill disappeared from Rapid City on October 2, 2016. She is still missing.