JK Rowling: I'll fund legal action by women's groups over Amnesty row

By LETTICE BROMOVSKY, NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:56, 14 July 2026 | Updated: 19:56, 14 July 2026 JK Rowling has vowed to bankroll legal action by women’s groups targeted in Amnesty International UK’s ‘anti-rights’ report. The Harry Potter author said organisations named in Amnesty’s now-withdrawn report could seek financial backing through her Women’s Fund if they decided to sue. Escalating the row that has engulfed the human rights charity, she wrote on X: ‘Should any of the women’s organisations targeted by @AmnestyUK’s recent “anti-rights” blacklist wish to take legal action, applications can be made to the JK Rowling Women’s Fund.’ Her intervention came after Amnesty was forced to remove its report, A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK, following a fierce backlash over its decision to describe more than 100 organisations as ‘anti-rights’ groups. The report named Beira’s Place, the Edinburgh rape support service founded by Ms Rowling, alongside For Women Scotland, Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, Labour Women’s Declaration and LGB Alliance. Tory MSP Murdo Fraser backed Ms Rowling’s intervention, suggesting Amnesty could face a wave of costly legal action. In a post on X, he wrote: ‘I can’t see @AmnestyUK surviving this. Donations will already have dried up, and they will be liquidated by the legal claims. It’s over.’ Earlier this week, Ms Rowling had urged people to think twice before giving Amnesty any cash. She said: ‘I hope donors are taking note.’ Beira’s Place is the Edinburgh rape support service founded by Ms Rowling Beira's Place board of directors (left to right) Susan Smith, JK Rowling, Johann Lamont, Margaret McCartney and Rhona Hotchkiss  It comes after Beira’s Place broke its silence to condemn Amnesty for including the women-only support service in the report, describing the accusation as ‘deeply offensive’. Chief executive Lesley Johnston said: ‘Beira’s Place was established in 2022 to address an unmet need for a single-sex support service for female survivors of male violence. ‘We are proud of our work and we know how much our service means to the women who have used it. It is inexplicable that Beira’s Place has been listed as an “anti-rights organisation” in a report published last week by Amnesty International. ‘This is deeply offensive to Beira’s Place staff who work day in, day out to support survivors, and to the women who need and use our service.’ She added: ‘We will continue to focus on the needs of the women who come to us and we remain committed to a vision where women and girls can live in a world free of sexual violence.’ Beira’s Place provides support exclusively to biological women who have experienced sexual violence. The centre was established by Ms Rowling after controversy surrounding Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, where former chief executive Mridul Wadhwa said survivors uncomfortable about receiving support from a transgender woman should ‘reframe’ their trauma. Amnesty’s report said the UK had seen a decline in LGBT+ rights and identified a number of organisations it claimed were contributing to that trend. However, after widespread criticism from campaigners and public figures, the charity removed the report from its website pending an internal review. JK Rowling has often thrown her weight behind For Women Scotland... and took issue with the SNP government For Women Scotland has since written to Amnesty demanding a full apology and for the report to be permanently withdrawn. Director Susan Smith said the charity had ‘a responsibility to do more to sort out the mess of their creation’. Ms Rowling has often thrown her weight behind For Women Scotland. In 2022, she wore a T-shirt emblazoned: ‘Nicola Sturgeon... destroyer of women’s rights’, telling her almost 14million X followers: ‘I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScotland’ after their Holyrood rally opposing the SNP government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Amnesty International UK was approached for comment. Amnesty has not apologised for naming Beira’s Place. Instead, a spokesman said: ‘We 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’s positions. ‘Its use of language does not reflect the position of Amnesty International UK, which is why it was promptly removed.’