{"id":9810,"date":"2026-07-18T18:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9810"},"modified":"2026-07-18T18:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T13:40:16","slug":"j-k-rowlings-sexual-violence-charity-threatens-amnesty-international-with-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=9810","title":{"rendered":"J.K. Rowling\u2019s sexual-violence charity threatens Amnesty International with lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2024\/04\/02\/Britain_Scotland_Rowling_28033_s1440x1037.jpg?1370ef9ff05de447d5c9b6d5c5ead68f7dd27ed3\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Britain\u2019s charities regulator is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk\/news\/scottish-news\/charity-commission-launch-probe-amnesty-37440166\">assessing concerns<\/a> over an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/amnesty-international\/\">Amnesty International<\/a> report that branded a women\u2019s charity founded by \u201cHarry Potter\u201d author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/jk-rowling\/\">J.K. Rowling<\/a> as \u201canti-rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The briefing, titled \u201cA Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK,\u201d listed more than 100 organizations under categories including \u201cgender critical,\u201d among them Ms. Rowling\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/beiras-place\/\">Beira\u2019s Place<\/a> in Edinburgh, a free, confidential support service for women 16 and older across Edinburgh and the Lothians who have survived sexual violence. The document appeared on Amnesty UK\u2019s website before being pulled down amid backlash, according to a report from the Scottish Daily Express.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Rowling, 60, has been a prominent gender-critical campaigner and has previously drawn accusations of transphobia for her stance on trans activism. She founded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/beiras-place\/\">Beira\u2019s Place<\/a> in 2022 and has spoken publicly about surviving domestic abuse and sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p>Lawyers for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/beiras-place\/\">Beira\u2019s Place<\/a> sent Amnesty UK a letter threatening legal action, accusing it of defamation and demanding an apology, permanent withdrawal of the briefing and an external review, according to the Express, which reported that staff at the Edinburgh center had received threatening correspondence following publication. <span data-state=\"closed\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk\/news\/scottish-news\/charity-commission-launch-probe-amnesty-37440166\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\/><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/amnesty-international\/\">Amnesty International<\/a> UK\u2019s charitable arm also filed a serious incident report with the Charity Commission, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/beiras-place\/\">Beira\u2019s Place<\/a> and other organizations separately raised concerns with the regulator. A Charity Commission spokesperson confirmed it is assessing those concerns. The commission said it can confirm concerns have been raised with it about a briefing published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/amnesty-international\/\">Amnesty International<\/a> UK Charitable Trust. As of Friday, the commission had not opened a formal investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amnesty has said the briefing was posted without going through its normal internal review process. The organization said it remains committed to gender justice, including the rights of women and trans people, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/amnesty-internationals-clash-with-jk-rowling-charity-explained-12189229\">according<\/a> to Newsweek.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/beiras-place\/\">Beira\u2019s Place<\/a> chief executive Lesley Johnston called the charity\u2019s inclusion on the list \u201cinexplicable\u201d and said it was deeply offensive to staff and to the women who use the service, according to PinkNews.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Rowling has also accused Amnesty of implying that \u201ccertain kinds of humans don\u2019t deserve rights,\u201d pointing to women, girls and people who are same-sex attracted, Newsweek reported. She has invited other organizations named in the report to apply to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/jk-rowling\/\">J.K. Rowling<\/a> Women\u2019s Fund for assistance with legal costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The dispute is the latest flashpoint in the U.K.\u2019s ongoing debate over how to balance protections for transgender people with calls for single-sex spaces and services for women, following the Supreme Court\u2019s April 2025 ruling in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/amnesty-internationals-clash-with-jk-rowling-charity-explained-12189229\">For Women Scotland<\/a> v. The Scottish Ministers, which held that the terms \u201cman,\u201d \u201cwoman\u201d and \u201csex\u201d in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex \u2014 a decision with significant implications for single-sex services and spaces.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times&#8217; AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times&#8217; original reporting, wire services, and\/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/ai-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">AI policy<\/a> or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/jul\/17\/jk-rowlings-sexual-violence-charity-threatens-amnesty-international\/mailto:sfink@washingtontimes.com\">sfink@washingtontimes.com<\/a><br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/jul\/17\/jk-rowlings-sexual-violence-charity-threatens-amnesty-international\/mailto:aispotlight@washingtontimes.com\">aispotlight@washingtontimes.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Britain\u2019s charities regulator is assessing concerns over an Amnesty International report that branded a women\u2019s charity founded by \u201cHarry Potter\u201d author J.K. Rowling as \u201canti-rights.\u201d The briefing, titled \u201cA Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK,\u201d listed more than 100 organizations under categories including \u201cgender critical,\u201d among them Ms. Rowling\u2019s Beira\u2019s Place in Edinburgh,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2024\/04\/02\/Britain_Scotland_Rowling_28033_c0-283-4144-2700_s1200x700.jpg?a151e045756222d7c876faca048b7899f7a11884","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}