Greta Thunberg responds to explicit cartoon mocking her
Greta Thunberg has responded to a cartoon that appears to depict the 17-year-old Swedish climate activist being sexually assaulted.
A photo of the sticker has been shared widely on social media.
The image shows a female with plaited pigtails being pulled and “Greta” scrawled across her naked back, above the logo of X-Site Energy Services, an energy company based in Alberta, Canada.
Thunberg responded to the sticker at the weekend, saying: “They are starting to get more and more desperate.
“This shows that we’re winning.”
They are starting to get more and more desperate...
This shows that we’re winning. https://t.co/NLOZL331X9— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 29, 2020
The sticker appears to have first become widely known on social media after a woman from Alberta shared an image of it to her Facebook and called it “disgusting”.
“This company represents everything that the O&G (oil and gas) industry needs to fight against,” Michelle Narang, who had cried when she saw the sticker, wrote on Facebook.
Calls for X-Site executives to step down
After widespread condemnation of the sticker, a petition was launched calling for the executives of the company to step down.
HuffPost Canada was told by an oil industry worker that the sticker had been distributed as promotional material at job sites.
“Together, we can show that this disgusting and deplorable behaviour will not go unnoticed in Canada,” the petition says.
X-Site’s general manager Doug Sparrow has denied being involved with the stickers.
“It’s not from X-Site or any employee, someone has done this. That’s all I know,” he told local news outlet CityNews.
The stickers were brought to the attention of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who consulted with experts in the sexual exploitation of children.
It was investigated but the Alberta RCMP did not find the image was enough to “constitute a criminal offence”.
Alberta oil and gas industry apparently needs to be reminded of the definition of child pornography in Canadian law. Making and disseminating child pornography is an indictable offence. #ableg pic.twitter.com/v55HfopK3a
— Lise Gotell (@LiseGot) February 27, 2020
The image reportedly did not include components necessary for it to be child pornography, nor does it show “a non-consensual act that would be a direct threat to the person”.
The petition had more than 3,000 signatures at time of publication, and is also calling for legal action.
“RCMP must take action on this issue and hold those responsible accountable,” an update on Change.org reads.
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