JK Rowling's Beira's Place Threatens Legal Action Against Amnesty International

London, United Kingdom Jul 16, 2026 ALN: Lawyers for Beira's Place, the sexual violence support centre founded by JK Rowling, have warned Amnesty International UK it faces court action unless it permanently drops a report labelling the charity "anti-rights" and publishes an apology on its website.

The legal letter to three of Amnesty's most senior UK figures states the briefing was defamatory and has led to staff at the Edinburgh centre receiving "threatening and abusive correspondence."

Amnesty said earlier this week that it regrets publishing the document, titled "A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK," which listed 117 organisations and groups it described as “gender critical” and classed as “anti-rights.”

Legal Threats and Defamation Claims

The human rights campaign group says the briefing was uploaded “without going through the established internal review processes” and has been temporarily taken down while an internal review is carried out.

In their letter, the solicitors acting for Beira's Place argue the briefing "erroneously and maliciously categorises our client as an 'anti-rights organisation'" and accuses the charity of seeking "to weaken existing human rights protections and prevent further progress."

They go on: "To accuse our client of 'targeting the rights of women or LGBT+ people' is entirely false and deeply damaging to the reputation of Beira's Place and those who use it. Having access to a single sex support service is a basic right which any woman who has experienced sexual violence should be entitled to.

"It is therefore beyond comprehension that a supposed human rights organisation would genuinely consider that the work done by Beira's Place could be classed as 'anti-rights' or 'targeting the rights of women.'"

Impact on Survivors and Staff

The letter, which Ms Rowling shared on social media, argued that this breaches the Defamation and Malicious Publications (Scotland) Act 2021, stating Amnesty "is well aware that there is no basis for these very serious and damaging allegations" and calling the document "per se a malicious attempt to damage our client's reputation."

Another letter to add to 's overflowing mail box, this one from women-only rape support service, Beira's Place. 1/3

The lawyers said the report had caused "serious harm to the staff, staff who work there and the women who use their services."

"Since publication of the report on 8 July, Beira's Place has received threatening and abusive correspondence and a 600% spike in website visits from outside the remit of the service.

"It cannot be a coincidence that this spike has coincided with the publication of the report. It has been necessary for our client to undertake extra administrative and digital measures and provide staffing support to mitigate for this disruption to their service."

Call for Apology and Investigation

The lawyers also warned of the impact on survivors of sexual violence.

"There is also a grave risk that publication of the report, which contains such egregious falsehoods, will cause some women who would otherwise have sought help from Beira's Place to self-exclude," they said.

"The report has wrongly labelled all associated with Beira's Place, including those accessing support as anti-rights bigots who are seeking to weaken human rights."

"This is a shocking way to describe those who are seeking to overcome the trauma of sexual violence."

They add that their client "will not sit back and allow the reputation of Beira's Place or those who access its support to be tarnished in this way.

"There is no basis for these allegations, and our client, with the support of its founder J.K. Rowling, will not sit back and allow the reputation of Beira’s Place or those who access its support to be tarnished in this way."

The lawyers ask for the report and its methodology to "be permanently withdrawn," alongside a commitment that the allegations against Beira's Place "will not be repeated."

They also call for "a public letter of apology posted on the front page of the Amnesty website, in terms to be agreed with us."

While they say this should be addressed primarily to Beira's Place, its staff and service users, it should also cover the other groups listed as "anti-rights" and "Gender Critical" in the report, who the lawyers say were "wrongly defamed by Amnesty for simply upholding the protected belief that sex is real, immutable and important in many areas of life."

Future Actions and Amnesty's Response

They also demand an external investigation, commissioned by Amnesty, into how the report "could contain such egregious falsehoods."

The letter warns: "In the event that Amnesty is not willing to agree to the foregoing we will instruct counsel to commence preparation for court action."

It calls for all relevant material, including drafts, to be preserved.

Ms Rowling, as founder of Beira's Place, is also expected to lodge a complaint with the Charity Commission and has offered support to any of the other named groups considering legal action of their own.

In a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty said the language used "does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK which is why it was promptly removed," adding: "We remain committed to defending human rights, including both the rights of women and the rights of trans people."

Ms Rowling, herself a survivor of domestic violence, set up and funded Beira's Place after the head of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre suggested “bigoted” rape survivors should be re-educated about transgender rights.

In the report, Amnesty said the UK had experienced “significant decline” in LGBT+ rights, with the nation falling from first to 22nd place in the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map index.

“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.

In April 2025, the UK's highest court ruled that the terms “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex.

For Women Scotland – the group of women who secured that ruling after taking the Scottish Government to court - were also on Amnesty's list.

The organisation’s three co-founders – Trina Budge, Marion Calder and Susan Smith – have written to Amnesty to warn the report contributes to “reputational harm.”

The letter states: “We note that your primary charitable object is to promote human rights. Women also have human rights. We recently won a case in Scotland to protect the human rights of incarcerated women in Scotland. The old Amnesty would have taken that case rather than attack the women who brought it.

“We now ask that you apologise to FWS for the malicious characterisation of our organisation in your report.”

The group warns “further measures” could be necessary.

Asked to comment on the letter from Beira's Place's lawyers, a spokesperson for Amnesty said: "We are aware of the letter and are engaging constructively with the process. We can confirm that we will not be republishing the briefing."