Torn from Our Midst : Voices of Grief, Healing, and Action from the Missing Indigenous Women Conference, 2008

The anger, grief, courage, compassion, and hope we hear in these voices inspire and compel us--to remember those who are missing and to work for healing and justice. -Since 1980, more than 520 Aboriginal women have been reported missing or murdered in Canada. -From 1993-2003, 370 women were murdered in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico. -Since 2001, more than 2,000 Guatemalan women and girls have been brutally murdered.

Responding to the profound tragedy inherent in these statistics, more than 300 women and men gathered in August 2008 at a conference entitled "Missing Women: Decolonization, Third Wave Feminisms, and Indigenous People of Canada and Mexico".

Here, personal stories and theoretical tools were brought together, as academics, activists, family members of missing and murdered women, police media, policy-makers, justice workers, and members of faith communities offered their perspectives on the issue of racialized, sexualized violence.

Torn from Our Midst includes images and voices from the conference, together with additional reflections, both academic and personal, on the effects of violence and the possibilities for healing.

The purpose of this volume is to raise awareness about missing and murdered women and to challenge communities to be courageous enough to look at the heart of this issue, to recognize the systems that allow such atrocities, and to seek justice and healing for all.

DVD included.