POLICE Scotland has partnered with Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) to #EraseTheGrey and tackle the myths about gender based violence.

In the last six years 56 people have been murdered as a result of domestic abuse, an average of nine people every year.

Of those killed almost three quarters of the victims were female and in 82 per cent of the cases the perpetrator was male.

This year to mark 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence, Police Scotland has joined with GCU to roll out the University’s #EraseTheGrey campaign across Scotland.

The campaign, created by staff and students at the university, will be shared and broadcast across Police Scotland’s digital channels from today.

Detective Chief Superintendent Lesley Boal said: “The Erase the Grey campaign is both innovative and to the point.

"It banishes any doubt about the many forms that gender-based violence can take or the excuses offenders commonly use to explain their criminal actions.

"Preventing gender-based violence is our ultimate goal, but policing on its own is not the solution.

"Domestic homicide is an extreme form of gender-based violence but serves as an example of the serious harm which continues to occur across Scotland and which we must all collectively challenge.

"Tackling gender-based violence is the responsibility of society as a whole, all of us working together to recognise it, challenge it, and support those who have experienced it and to report it to the police or other appropriate services.

Two thirds of victims were aged between 41 and 50 years of age and nearly two thirds of perpetrators were more than 40 years old with the highest number aged between 51 and 60 years of age.

Domestic abuse (including homicide), rape and sexual crime, honour-based abuse including forced marriage, stalking and Female Genital Mutilation are all forms of gender-based violence (GBV).

Professor Pamela Gillies, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of GCU, said: "This successful campaign was co-created by our students and staff and is based on evidence from the research the University undertakes on gender-based violence.

"The campaign has simple messages, challenges myths, helps raise awareness and directs people to appropriate support services.

"As the University for the Common Good, we are delighted to share this resource with Police Scotland and the wider public."

The campaign covers a range of misconceptions about gender-based violence including sexual crime, domestic abuse, stalking and forced marriage.

The messages will run across Police Scotland’s social media channels over the course of 16 Days with an expected audience reach of over two million.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which runs from today until December 10, is an international campaign coordinated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence.