GLASGOW cops will take part in a new pilot which aims to help vulnerable victims of gender based violence who attend city colleges and universities - by signposting them to support services.

Detective Inspector Julie Marshall, from the National Rape Taskforce at Police Scotland’s Crime Campus in Gartcosh, will hold briefings to inform Glasgow cops of the role they will play in this new initiative which could be rolled out across Scotland.

From today, any city cop attending a report of gender based violence crime involving students will offer a bank card sized card with the tagline, “If something doesn’t feel right to you, we can help.”

The card contains a list of numbers and website addresses to support services including Rape Crisis Scotland.

Gender based violence describes a spectrum of behaviour that starts with objectification and unwanted comments and includes intimidation, harassment, online abuse, intimate image sharing, domestic abuse - physical and emotional, stalking, sexual assault and murder.

The term also includes commercial sexual exploitation and so-called ‘honour based’ violence including female genital mutilation, forced marriages and ‘honour’ crimes.

Detective Inspector Marshall said: “Colleges and universities are part of the greater community where gender based violence occurs and it just doesn’t stop.

“Gender based violence could have happened to them at any point in their life and in any part of the community.

“Students are often young and away from home, they might not realise that some behaviours aren’t acceptable. Then they might sit and think about it - and want that support.”

She added: “You have people from all over the world at colleges and universities who do not know the area that well. So knowing that they can get access to a service within their own college or university might encourage them to get support.

“This could also answer a lot of questions as to why some students disengage from their studies because something has happened to them but the universities and colleges are putting this in place to support them.”

City cops will report the cards they hand out to their sergeants and the numbers collated will then be passed on to Universities Scotland.

The pilot will run for three months and if the figures show a need for the project, it could be rolled out across the country.