JK Rowling avoids prosecution under Scottish hate crime law

Police in Scotland said the author’s comments about the highly contentious new laws aimed at cutting hate speech, including against trans people, are not criminal.

British writer JK Rowling won’t be prosecuted for criticising new hate crime laws. Picture: AFP.

Police in Scotland say they will take no action against the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling for a series of social media posts, which went viral, about transgender women being men.

Rowling was highlighting highly contentious new hate laws in Scotland which came into force on Monday, even challenging the police to “arrest me”.

She had mocked 10 high profile biological men – some of whom were sex offenders – who have adopted a female identity. The posts were seen by more than 11 million people and retweeted 26,000 times.

The new Scottish law makes it an offence if people are “threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred” on the grounds of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.

However sex is not a protected characteristic, and leading feminists believe this leaves women unprotected from hate crime.

I hope every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by this announcement, and I trust that all women - irrespective of profile or financial means - will be treated equally under the law.https://t.co/CsgehF2a5d

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 2, 2024

Police Scotland confirmed they had received complaints about Rowling, but said on Tuesday: “We have received complaints in relation to the social media post. The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken.”

The unwillingness of the police to take on such a high profile feminist came after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “people should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology”.

Rowling said she hoped every woman in Scotland who wishes to speak up for the reality and importance of biological sex will be reassured by the police announcement.

She added: “I trust that all women – irrespective of profile or financial means – will be treated equally under the law.”

She had earlier said she would repeat the words of any woman charged for simply calling a man a man.

“I’ll repeat that woman’s words and they can charge us both at once,’’ she said.

If they go after any woman for simply calling a man a man, I'll repeat that woman's words and they can charge us both at once. pic.twitter.com/s9OcsgHr5j

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 2, 2024

Rowling’s gender critical views are well known and she has received widespread support across Britain.

Earlier the 58-year-old author, who lives in Edinburgh, had posted: “Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.

“I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

Rowling mocked the new laws and in her posts she included cases such as rape offender Isla Bryson, Amy George, who abducted a child and abused her for 27 hours, pedophile and sexual abuser Katie Dolatowski and sex offender Samantha Norris.

She also pointed out how the chief executive of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre Mridul Wadhwa is a biological male and that the UN Woman’s first UK champion Munroe Bergdorf is also a biological male.

There are widespread concerns that the Scotland hate laws will be used by activists and vexatious complainants.

Edinburgh-based Kings Counsel, Roddy Dunlop said of the police decision: “As many of us have been saying: the bar for prosecution, let alone conviction, is high, and I doubt we will see many of either.

“The problem is more likely to lie in the police being swamped with reports, and what happens in terms of recording.”