This post has been lightly edited; it was originally published on Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ blog.

Last year (2016) marked a century since some women in Canada first got the right to vote.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights shares the stories of many women in Canada who have fought for human rights. Some of them are very well-known, like Buffy Sainte Marie and Malala Yousafzai (an honourary Canadian citizen), while others aren’t as famous but really should be. This post, being republished today on Persons’ Day during Women’s History Month, is all about these lesser-known women – women who should be household names in Canada.

Jaime Black

Her name isn’t a household name yet, but her powerful art is becoming very well known. Black is the artist behind The REDress Project, a work that focuses around the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The Project has collected hundreds of red dresses by community donation and installed them in public spaces across Canada as a visual reminder of the numerous women who have died or disappeared. Several of these dresses have been installed at the Museum and it has become one its most talked-about exhibits. These dresses are sparking countless conversations about missing and murdered Indigenous women. These are conversations that Canadians need to have – and Jaime Black’s artwork is helping move the dialogue forward.

Marina Nemat

Imagine being imprisoned and tortured for speaking out against your government.  For Marina Nemat, there was no need to imagine – in 1979, when she was only sixteen years old, she was arrested by the Iranian government. She spent more than two years in Evin Prison, a political prison in Tehran, where she was tortured and very nearly executed. In 1991, Nemat emigrated to Canada and decided to speak out about her experience. She has written two books – Prisoner of Tehran and After Tehran: A Life Reclaimed and now regularly speaks out against torture at high schools, universities, and conferences around the world.

Huberte Gautreau

A Francophone Acadian who grew up in the tiny New Brunswick village of Pré-d’en-Haut, Huberte Gautreau would grow up to travel the world fighting for the rights of women and communities. Gautreau became a nurse and fought for health and human rights in many countries, such as the United States, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Peru. She always focused on vital issues such as sanitation, clean water, education, and women’s equality.  Here in Canada, Gautreau has also been very active. Among other achievements, she helped establish a women’s shelter and counselled people about sexual and gender harassment in New Brunswick.

Viola Desmond

When people think of segregation – the enforced separation of racial groups – they usually think of the United States and the civil rights movement let by Martin Luther King. But segregation happened in Canada, too – and Desmond was one of the first people to challenge it. In 1946, Desmond – a Black Nova Scotian and a beautician – was already a business leader in her community in Halifax. Then, in that same year, she refused to leave a whites-only section of a movie theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia and was arrested as a result. She appealed the arrest and lost her case, but her courageous stand inspired future civil rights activism across Canada.

Nellie McClung

Since this is being republished on Persons’ Day, it’s fitting we mention someone who played a leading role. Nellie McClung was instrumental in helping Manitoba become the first Canadian province to give women the vote in 1916. But that is only the tip of the iceberg – McClung never stopped advocating for the rights of Canadians and worked all her life as

an activist, an author, and a politician. Perhaps most famously, McClung was one of the “Famous Five” – a group of women who convinced the courts to finally recognize women as persons under the law in 1929.

So there you have it – five women who should be household names in Canada. If we all go home and work these inspiring women into our conversations with friends and family, soon they will be household names. But there’s no reason to stop there – there are many other amazing women in Canada and from around the world who are working for human rights. Which ones inspire you? Leave a comment! Let’s make their stories known!

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