Beira's Place
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Beira's Place ( ) is a Scotland-based private support service for female victims of
sexual violence Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
. Founded in 2022 by
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...
, the organisation describes itself as a " women-only service", and does not hire or provide services to
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
women.


History

Beira's Place is a privately owned and operated
domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
service that was formed to provide support to women aged 16 and over in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and the
Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...
s who are survivors of sexual violence. The organization does not serve
transgender women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...
. The organisation was established in December 2022 by British author and philanthropist J. K. Rowling as its founder and financial backer, with the express goal of providing "women-centred and women-delivered care". Rowling said the impetus to set up the centre was her fury on hearing that the trans CEO of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre,
Mridul Wadhwa Mridul Machindra Wadhwa (born 1978) is an Indian-born Scottish women's rights, trans rights, anti-domestic violence campaigner. She is a Director and co-founder of data company Vahanomy. She previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Edinbu ...
, had said that victims of sexual abuse must "reframe" their trauma if they disagreed with being treated by a trans woman. In a statement provided by the organisation, Beira's Place wrote "we believe that women deserve to have certainty that, in using our services, they will not encounter anyone who is male. Where appropriate, we will refer men or individuals identifying as trans women to other appropriate services." The organisation was named for Beira, the Scottish goddess of winter who represents "female wisdom, power, and regeneration". After the founding of Beira's Place, several public figures and organisations expressed their support for the service, while some criticized its exclusion of transgender people.
Rape Crisis Scotland Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS) is a charity which provides a national rape crisis helpline and email support for anyone affected by sexual violence, no matter when or how it happened. There are 17 independent local centres in Scotland that are membe ...
publicly welcomed the establishment of "any new service" in light of existing services' underfunding and long waiting lists, while emphasizing the importance of serving trans and non-binary people and noting that rape crisis centres in Scotland had done so for years without incident. UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Reem Alsalem Reem Alsalem (born 1976) is a Jordanian independent consultant and former civil servant. Since August 2021 she has served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. She is gender-critical, and has been accu ...
welcomed the new service, stating "the prevention and response to violence against women requires an all-society approach, so it is great to see different actors who have the means, including private individuals, play their part." In June 2023, Police Scotland announced that they would create a direct referral procedure for assault survivors to Beira's Place, similar to the existing referral process for Rape Crisis Scotland.


Structure

The group's founding came shortly before a vote on the Gender Recognition Reform bill. Single-sex services in Scotland, and whether or not trans people should be included in them, are associated with the bill. Beira's Place is not a registered charity of Scotland. As such, it does not accept donations and is entirely privately funded by Rowling. Alongside Rowling, the current board members of the organisation are Rhona Hotchkiss (a former prison governor),
Johann Lamont Johann MacDougall Lamont (; born 11 July 1957) is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and De ...
, Susan Smith (director of
For Women Scotland For Women Scotland (FWS) is a Scottish campaign group that opposes proposed reforms allowing individuals to change their recorded sex in legal documents by means of self-declaration. For Women Scotland says that proposed changes to the Gende ...
), and
Margaret McCartney Margaret Mary McCartney is a general practitioner, freelance writer, broadcaster and lecturer based in Glasgow, Scotland. McCartney is a vocal advocate for evidence-based medicine. McCartney was a regular columnist at the ''British Medical Journ ...
. All board members have been critical of the Scottish Government's proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. The founding CEO of the organisation is Isabelle Kerr, formerly manager of Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis Centre, and its deputy CEO is Sue Domminney. Interviewed on the anniversary of the service's opening, Kerr said that its phone service had helped almost 2,000 people seeking support, and over 250 survivors of violence had used its safe space.


References

{{reflist 2022 establishments in Scotland Organizations established in 2022 Domestic violence-related organizations Organisations based in Edinburgh J. K. Rowling LGBTQ-related controversies in the United Kingdom Transgender topics in Scotland Violence against women in Scotland Women's organisations based in Scotland