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A cartoon decal of environmentalist Greta Thunberg, which includes the logo of a Red Deer oil service company, has been widely condemned.

The decal depicts the 17-year-old Swedish activist in a sexually submissive position.

It鈥檚 an image that is clearly rape, said Patricia Arango, executive director of the Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason we鈥檙e working hard to create a culture of respect,鈥� Arango said.

鈥淭o me, it feels like social rape. I鈥檓 very sad and ashamed this has happened here in Canada.鈥�

She said no matter how old a person is, or who they are, this behaviour is never OK.

The decal features the logo of X-Site Energy Services, which has an office in Red Deer, and also works in northern Alberta and B.C.

A spokesman for X-Site Energy Services has told other sources that no one from the company had anything to do with the decal, and that an unknown third party posted it to Facebook. General manager Doug Sparrow declined comment on the matter when contact by the Advocate on Thursday.

Arango said she was alerted about the post Wednesday night, adding it shows the lack of respect in social media and the rape culture that exists in many big industries. When not much is done to stop it, it becomes normalized.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we can be silent,鈥� she said.

Red Deer County resident Clayton MacIntyre, who contacted the newspaper about the Facebook post, called the image disgusting.

鈥淭his was disturbing to me. I haven鈥檛 seen anything like this. There鈥檚 nothing about it that鈥檚 OK,鈥� said MacIntyre after someone who was also shocked by the post shared it with him.

He said the reaction to environmentalists is getting progressively worse, with some people in the oil industry taking a more aggressive stance.

MacIntyre said he used to work in the industry up north and is aware of the atmosphere, but not all workers condone such behaviour.

鈥淪ome of my friends have seen it, and said it was not OK, and they鈥檙e going to be rig pigs until the day they die. That鈥檚 why people don鈥檛 take Alberta seriously. They think we鈥檙e a bunch of hillbilly rednecks running around with pipe wrenches. It鈥檚 because people post stuff like that.鈥�

Michelle Narang, of Rocky Mountain House, said she called the RCMP to report the decal as child pornography, after seeing it.

RCMP Cpl. Ron Bumbry said officers are aware of the image and 鈥渨ill be following up.鈥�

Narang, who has two teenage daughters, said as soon as she saw the image, she sat down and cried.

鈥淭he visual is jarring,鈥� Narang said Thursday. 鈥淚t hurt. It hurt on so many levels.鈥�

Alberta鈥檚 minister for the status of women, Leela Aheer, called the graphic 鈥渃ompletely deplorable, unacceptable and degrading.鈥�

鈥淭his is not what our province stands for. Whoever is responsible should be ashamed and apologize immediately. I stand with Albertans against this horrendous image,鈥� she wrote on Twitter.

Premier Jason Kenney tweeted in response: 鈥淭hank-you for denouncing this odious image and the message it sends.鈥�

鈥� with files from The Canadian Press

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