{"id":695310,"date":"2026-07-16T18:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695310\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:53:11","slug":"amnesty-uk-self-reports-to-watchdog-after-calling-jk-rowling-womens-centre-anti-rights-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/695310\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty UK self-reports to watchdog after calling JK Rowling women\u2019s centre \u2018anti-rights\u2019 | Charities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amnesty International UK has referred itself to the charity regulator over a report it published that described a sexual violence support centre founded by JK Rowling as \u201canti-rights\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK branch of the global human rights charity listed Beira\u2019s Place in Edinburgh among more than 100 organisations it said were part of an anti-rights movement.<\/p>\n

It later apologised and removed the list \u2013 which was titled \u201cA Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK\u201d \u2013 saying it had not gone through \u201cthe established internal review processes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lawyers acting for Beira\u2019s Place have accused Amnesty of defaming the organisation and have threatened legal action unless it apologises, permanently withdraws the report and commissions an external review into why it was published.<\/p>\n

Rowling has also invited other organisations who are considering legal action after being included on the list \u2013 which she described as a \u201cblacklist\u201d \u2013 to apply to the JK Rowling<\/a> Women\u2019s Fund to help with legal costs.<\/p>\n

JK Rowling, front left, with the Beira\u2019s Place board of directors in 2022. Photograph: Nicole Jones\/PA<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the Charity Commission confirmed that Amnesty International UK had referred itself by submitting a serious incident report, and that it was considering whether it needed to take action. A spokesperson said: \u201cWe can confirm that concerns have been raised with us about a briefing published by Amnesty International UK charitable trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with our guidance, the charity has also submitted a serious incident report. We are assessing the matters raised to determine what, if any, role there might be for us as charity law regulator.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has not launched a formal investigation.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this week, a spokesperson for Amnesty International UK, said the list was \u201cpromptly removed\u201d as its language did not reflect the charity\u2019s position. \u201cWe regret that this briefing was uploaded to our website without going through the established, internal review processes that are in place to ensure consistency, accuracy and alignment with Amnesty International UK\u2019s positions,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The charity added that it was committed to defending the rights of women and trans people, and that no community should be \u201csingled out for unfair treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n

Set up by Rowling in 2022, Beira\u2019s Place provides sexual violence support for women across Edinburgh and the Lothians \u201cin a safe, women-only space\u201d.<\/p>\n

Its chief executive, Lesley Johnston, said it was \u201cinexplicable\u201d that it had been included on the list of groups described as \u201cgender critical\u201d and \u201canti-rights\u201d. \u201cThis is deeply offensive to Beira\u2019s Place staff who work day in day out to support survivors and to the women who need and use our service,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The list also named For Women Scotland, which won a supreme court case in April 2025<\/a> that ruled the term \u201cwoman\u201d in the Equality Act refers to a biological woman, with implications for trans people\u2019s access to single-sex services and spaces.<\/p>\n

The Amnesty report said the ruling had contributed to a \u201csignificant decline in protection for LGBT+ rights\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amnesty International UK has referred itself to the charity regulator over a report it published that described a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}