Greenock Morton takes stand to end violence against women

The club has joined with Inverclyde Council to tackle the issue by taking part in the annual '16 days of Activism'.

Manager Dougie Imrie stood united with women's team captain Laura Darroch and new signing Rowen Shepherd to show their support with a new banner at Cappielow.

It comes as the women's game takes on an increasingly higher profile within Morton and played their opening game at Cappielow.

Morton supports campaign to end violence against women (Image: George Munro) Violence against Women campaign (Image: George Munro)

The banner will feature in a prime advertising space, secured on the main stand, displaying the message ‘Tackling violence against women and girls in Scotland…Imagine a Scotland without gender-based violence’.

Imrie told the Tele: "I think we all have responsibility to take a stand to bring about an end to violence against women.

"At Morton, our women's football team are an important part of the club and I am delighted to join with Laura and the team for this. We also have more and more women among our supporters, some of them have been coming for a long time.

"Every week there also young girls following the team and we need to send out the right message."

Tackling violence against women and girls at Morton (Image: George Munro)

The banner will be on show for the duration of the 16-day campaign, from Monday, November 25 to Tuesday, December 10, and at Morton’s next home match against Livingston on Saturday, December 7.

Morton captain Laura Darroch, who has worked closely with women's groups through Morton in the Community, praised the club for taking action.

She said: "I think it is brilliant that Morton is getting involved and being a face of this campaign.

"It should not just be women who take a stand against violence, everyone should be doing it.

"As a women's team we are also delighted to be very much part of the club now and even had the chance to play at Cappielow.

"Our crowds are getting bigger, women's football has a long way to go, but people are starting to recognise the quality."

Councillors Natasha McGuire, depute leader of Inverclyde Council, and Councillor Lynne Quinn, Inverclyde’s women’s champion, also joined the banner unveiling at Cappielow.

Councillor McGuire said: “Nearly a quarter of adolescent girls will experience gender-based violence by the age of 20. That is heart-breaking.

“We all have family members, friends and colleagues who are women or girls.

“It is everyone’s job to make sure we, as individuals and as a community, are making gender-based violence a thing of the past.

“We should all be calling out inappropriate behaviours and feeling empowered to have those difficult conversations when we recognise something is not right.

“Throughout these 16 days we are sending a clear message that gender-based violence has no place in Inverclyde and we want to support those who have suffered."

Councillor Quinn said the campaign will help keep the important issue at the forefront of people’s minds.

She added: “We all have a duty to call out any form of violence or abuse and we should all be thinking about what more we can do individually and collectively to eliminate this type of unacceptable behaviour once and for all.”

Dale Pryde-MacDonald, general manager of Greenock Morton FC, said: “As a community-owned club it is centrally important for us to be involved in this.

“We are very supportive of the cause and the important role it can play for female supporters attending our matches over the campaign.

“Violence in any form is unacceptable and we are very lucky in Inverclyde to have a number of service providers who can offer help and support to gender-based violence.”

Inverclyde Council has been a long-time supporter of the campaign and the link-up with Morton is one of the many activities taking place during the 16 days.

Information on violence against women and girls and services that can offer support can be found at here.