JK Rowling's sexual violence support centre demands apology from Amnesty

A sexual violence support centre set up by JK Rowling has demanded an apology from Amnesty International UK and threatened court action over a report which classed it as "anti-rights".

Amnesty had named Beira's Place in Edinburgh among more than 100 organisations which it characterised as being part of an anti-rights movement before it decided to temporarily remove the list while an internal review takes place.

A lawyer's letter on behalf of the women-only support centre demanded the report was permanently withdrawn.

It also called for Amnesty to make a full apology on the front of its website and conduct an external review into how the "egregious falsehood" got published in the first place.

Rowling, herself a survivor of domestic violence, set up and funded Beira's Place in 2022 after a row over the management of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre which at the time was being run by a transgender woman.

The author said it was important that survivors of abuse had the option of "women-centred" and "women-delivered" care.

The new centre was named after the Scottish goddess of winter who Rowling said embodied female wisdom, strength and regeneration.

The briefing issued last week by Amnesty - entitled "A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK" - also listed the campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought the legal case that culminated in the UK Supreme Court ruling that "woman" refers to biological sex for the purposes of equalities law.

The Amnesty report said the ruling had contributed to a "significant decline in protection for LGBT+ rights".

In a statement announcing it was removing the list, Amnesty said it regretted that the briefing was uploaded to its website without going through the established internal review processes.

"Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK which is why it was promptly removed," it said.

Now a letter sent to Amnesty by lawyers for Beira's Place has been shared on X by Rowling in which they outline how they consider the report to be defamatory.

It says the claims that it is "targeting the rights of women or LGBT people" is entirely false and deeply damaging to its reputation.

The letter threatens court action and calls for Amnesty to permanently withdrawn the report and not repeat what it considers to be the defamatory comments made in it.

It also demands a public letter of apology to be printed on the front page of the Amnesty website saying that the "anti rights" claims are without foundation and deeply damaging.

The letter also calls for an external investigation into how a report in Amnesty's name could contain such "egregious falsehoods".