Beira's Place, founded by JK Rowling, labelled 'anti-rights'

JK Rowling’s support centre for female sexual assault victims - Beira's Place - has been labelled an “anti-rights” group by Amnesty International UK.

Beira’s Place was founded in 2022 by the Harry Potter author to provide trauma-informed support service to women survivors of sexual abuse.

The organisation labels itself as “women-only” and does not include transgender people.

Rowling launched the organisation in response to backlash Rape Crisis Scotland Edinburgh received when former chief executive Mridul Wadhwa said sexual abuse survivors had to “reframe” their trauma if they disagreed with being treated by a transgender woman.

Rowling has been an outspoken critic of the gender self-ID movement, arguing that single-sex spaces must be based explicitly on biological sex.

The human rights organisation has published a new report into movements which seek to diminish the rights of women and LGBT+ groups in the UK.

Amnesty updated its report this month to include 51 gender critical groups, including For Women Scotland and Beira’s Place.
It warns the UK had experienced a “significant decline” in protections for LGBT+ rights, with the nation falling from first to 22nd place in the ILGA-Europe (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association).

“Key factors contributing to this decline include the failure to reform the legal gender recognition framework, the absence of a ban on conversion practices, the treatment of LGBT+ asylum seekers, and the implications of the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Minister,” the report states.

The Supreme Court case referenced by Amnesty concluded in April 2025, where the UK's apex court ruled that single-sex spaces must only used based on biological sex.

The UK and Scottish Governments have faced criticism at the slow pace of implementing the policy.

It was announced earlier this week that nearly 13,000 toilets and more than 5,000 changing rooms across the UK could need revamped at gyms, hospitals and leisure centres across the UK.

In a published list of 117 UK organisations, Amnesty International mentions Beira’s Place under “gender critical” in the anti-rights categories.

Amnesty International also condemns For Women Scotland – the group of women who took the Scottish Government to court over policies which allowed transgender women – born male – to take up female-only spaces on public boards.

The group has also recently had a successful legal victory over the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service’s placement of trans people in the female prison estate.

The Scottish Government confirmed it would not appeal the decision and has removed all trans women from staying in the female estate, however further clarity is sought on whether transwomen are restricted from accessing women’s-only services in prisons.

Policy group Murray Blackburn Mackenzie has also been labelled “anti-rights” by Amnesty International.

In a statement, For Women Scotland said: "For Women Scotland is only "anti-rights" if you don't consider women to be entitled to any rights in law or public life.

"It's a sad state of affairs that Amnesty has sunk so low as to defame prominent women's organisations, including a rape crisis centre and support networks for abused wives and children.

"We won a landmark case on women's rights at the Supreme Court where Amnesty intervened with their best legal arguments against us.

"That the judges were unpersuaded should have given Amnesty pause for thought - instead they have chosen to launch an ill-advised attack, and one that surely risks attracting the attention of the Charity Commission."

JK Rowling's team did not respond to request for comment, while Beira's Place said it would not be responding.

Amnesty’s report said these groups were “anti-rights actors” because they “visibly oppose the rights” LGBT+ people.

The report said: “Human rights are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. When the rights of one group are restricted, protections for others can also be weakened, even where the effects are not immediately visible.”

It adds: “Anti-rights actors seek a society in which women and men have fixed and distinct roles, based on what they view as ‘natural’ and ‘traditional’. These actors perceive the idea that gender is socially constructed as a threat because it suggests that gender roles can, and do, change across societies and over time. In fact, progress in the rights of women and LGBT+ people has been underpinned by changing understandings of gender and social roles.”

Rachael Hamilton, the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “It is astonishing that Amnesty International has chosen to brand organisations defending women’s rights and supporting female survivors of sexual violence as ‘anti-rights’.

"The SNP spent years trying to silence many of these same voices instead of listening to them. The Scottish Conservatives will always stand up for women’s rights and single-sex spaces.”

An Amnesty International UK spokesperson said: “The organisations we listed are campaigning against human rights protections for trans people, in the context of a general backsliding of human rights protections for LGBTI people, migrants, as well as women and girls across Europe and the US.

“We are seeing a pattern of anti-trans and anti-abortion campaigns advancing together in other countries, especially in the US, making the same arguments and adopting the same strategies as the organisations we listed in our report. The impact of these policies on the lives of those who are affected is significant and damaging.

“We know this is a very fraught issue in this country. Our research is not about a single individual but the environment that is being created by organisations promoting policies that are not only detrimental to the rights of a minority, but ultimately to the rights that are crucial to protecting women and girls.”

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