RANGERS have hit out at the BBC after a contributor referenced the club during a domestic abuse segment.
Scottish Women’s Aid chair Nicola Gilchrist appeared on Friday night’s edition of The Nine on BBC Scotland.
She was invited on to speak about a new law due to come into effect in Scotland next month that will make controlling and coercive behaviour a criminal offence.
Fiona Drouet – the mother of Aberdeen University student Emily Drouet, who killed herself in 2016 after being a victim of such abuse – was also a guest on the show.
And after Mrs Drouet admitted she wanted people to educate themselves about the dangers of controlling and coercive behaviour, Ms Gilchrist agreed.
She said: “This is what I think is so vital actually, is changing the shape of this.
“Educating people that domestic abuse is not a black eye after the Rangers lose or something. That is not what we are talking about.
“We are talking about what Fiona’s talking about here, that the shame and humiliation of living with this, that is going to, I think, shape the conversation in Scotland.”
A Rangers spokesperson said: “The first thing to be stressed is that domestic abuse should be condemned at every opportunity.
“Once again, however, the BBC provided a platform from which Rangers could be denigrated.
“Even so, it was astounding to hear Nicola Gilchrist single out Rangers. Perhaps she would like to explain why, while discussing this awful form of abuse, she felt it necessary to reference a club which does more than any other to help ease and eradicate the myriad problems faced by people in our local and wider communities.’
A number of Rangers fans have been angered by the reference to the Ibrox club losing games in Gilchrist’s response.
And many have demanded both she and the Beeb apologise for the remarks.
A BBC Scotland spokesperson said: “We did an item on The Nine which was highlighting the important issue of domestic abuse and its tragic consequences.”
SunSport has contacted Scottish Women’s Aid for comment.
Last week Rangers fans
protested against BBC Scotland’s coverage of the club outside its Pacific Quay HQ in Glasgow.
They unleashed a banner blast which read: “Biased, bigoted, corrupt. DON’T FUND OUR HATERS. BBC, LICENCE TO LIE.”
The organisations are embroiled in a long-term disagreement, relating to senior journalist Chris McLaughlin’s Ibrox ban.