
Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan and member agencies ask city for action on Experience Regina
Giving a Voice, Making a Change, Shining a LightSexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan (SASS) and member agencies have sent a letter to Regina Mayor Sandra Masters and Regina City Council outlining concerns about the recent Experience Regina brand launch and subsequent fallout.
“We are concerned that a municipal government and one of its agencies approved a tourism marketing campaign founded on harmful language that perpetuates a culture of harassment and abuse against women,” said Kerrie Isaac, executive director at SASS. “Furthermore, beyond a short apology of sorts and cancellation of the brand weeks after the backlash, no one has yet to come forward and explain how the brand was ever approved in the first place. There has been zero accountability thus far.”
The Experience Regina brand is also more than a tasteless joke. It has shone a light on a troubling reality in the city and our province. Among Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan has the highest rates of interpersonal violence, with 104 sexual violence incidents per 100,000 and 655 intimate partner violence incidents per 100,000, double the national average. As well, police-reported sexual violence reports have risen by over 70 per cent in Regina since 2012. In 2022 alone, a record number of sexual assault reports were made to the Regina Police Service, averaging one sexual assault every second day.
Ever since Experience Regina launch, survivors have been reaching out to SASS, sexual assault crisis lines, and other supportive community agencies for help due to retraumatization from the campaign, and its messaging. This campaign has shown again that the attitudes and beliefs that enable violence against women and girls are pervasive.
“The City of Regina, Regina Exhibition Association Limited, Tourism Regina and others involved in the brand need to be transparent with the public about how this brand was developed,” said Isaac. “A town hall meeting would allow residents and those impacted by the brand to express their concerns. We know a third-party report is underway, but that should not stop important conversations and learning from happening now. This is a teachable moment that can’t be lost in the shuffle. Real harm happened because of this, and accountability is required.”
The letter sent to Mayor Masters and City Council members is here.