Beira's Place
Beira's Place is a Scotland-based private support service for female victims of sexual violence. Founded in 2022 by J. K. Rowling, the organisation describes itself as a "women-only service", and does not hire or provide services to transgender women.
History
Beira's Place is a privately owned and operated domestic violence service that was formed to provide support to women aged 16 and over in Edinburgh and the Lothians who are survivors of sexual violence.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, 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 criticised its exclusion of transgender people. Rape Crisis Scotland 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 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.