Amnesty UK labels JK Rowling-founded Edinburgh crisis centre 'anti-rights'

Amnesty International UK has described JK Rowling’s Edinburgh sexual assault crisis centre, Beira’s Place, as “anti-rights” in a new report examining what it says is the growing threat posed by anti-rights activism in the UK.

Beira’s Place was founded by Rowling in 2022 to “provide practical and emotional help to women in a safe and supportive environment.” The centre says it is women-only and operates “in accordance with the Equality Act 2010”.

The Amnesty report, titled A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK, says the erosion of women’s and LGBTQ+ rights should be understood in the context of a wider decline in human rights protections.

“To understand the rise of an anti-rights movement targeting the rights of women and LGBT+people in the UK, it is important to situate it within the broader context of a general deterioration in human rights protections,” the report’s summary says.

It adds: “Successive governments have introduced legislation that severely restricts the rights to protest and freedom of assembly and have passed increasingly restrictive immigration and asylum laws that raise concerns about the UK’s compliance with its international legal obligations.”

Amnesty defines “anti-rights actors” as “formal or informal groups, individuals, private and state actors whose aim is to restrict human rights by undermining human rights protections in law and practice”.

The report says some of these groups identify as “anti-gender” because they oppose the rights and equality of women and LGBT+ people. It argues that when one group’s rights are restricted, protections for others can also be weakened.

In an appendix listing “anti-rights organisations”, Amnesty places Beira’s Place in the registered company section under “gender critical”, alongside groups including LGB Alliance, For Women Scotland and Sex Matters.

Other “anti-rights actor” categories listed by the report include anti-abortion, Christian right policy and advocacy, and conversion practices.

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