IRIS- Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society has been in partnership with NWRCT- Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto for several years working on various projects. Our most recent project is titled, Trafficking & Indigenous women with Intellectual, Cognitive and Psychosocial Disabilities: Promising Preventative Practices. Trafficking has and continues to be, responsible for many Indigenous girls and women who have gone missing or have been murdered. It is important to recognize the pattern of missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women not as a coincidence, but as targeted attacks.

Throughout the years of working together, it has become evident that many of the women NWRCT support through their Human Trafficking program are women who live with an intellectual, cognitive and/or mental health disabilities. These additional intersections create even greater susceptibility to trafficking. For this partnership project, we have conducted a review of the literature, focus groups and interviews related to the topic of Indigenous women with intellectual, cognitive, and mental health disabilities and trafficking. While greatly under-researched, it is evident that this is a critical issue requiring specific types of resources and strategies to address it. 

The Native Women’s Resource Centre Toronto has launched their 4000 Cover Stories project. 4000 cover stories is a project created to commemorate the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women who have been taken from their loved ones, and to bring awareness to the ongoing genocide of Indigenous Women.

Video Link: https://nwrct.ca/nwrct-homepage/the-video/

NWRC Link: https://nwrct.ca/