JK: Female victims of lax gender laws must pin blame on Sturgeon
JK Rowling has continued her war of words with the First Minister over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
The Edinburgh-based author now says if any woman suffers due to the proposed changes to gender ID laws then the blame will lie with the SNP leader.
In a newspaper article, Ms Rowling defended her decision to post a picture of herself wearing a T-shirt with the words ‘Nicola Sturgeon: Destroyer of Women’s Rights’.
She said: ‘I did this to show solidarity with women protesting outside the Scottish parliament on October 6. It takes guts for Scottish women to stand up for their rights these days.’
The Harry Potter author, 57, continued: ‘Nicola Sturgeon believes the protesters have nothing to complain about.
‘The woman who calls herself a “real feminist” said her new Gender Recognition Act doesn’t take rights away from women.
‘The question for all feminists I know is, how do we make trans people safe without making women and girls less safe?
‘Vulnerable women are being told their concerns must take second place to the feelings of men who identify as women.
‘Politicians who say there is no clash of rights have no idea about the lives of women in situations they will never face.
‘Rarely in politics is it easy to draw a direct line from a policy decision to the harm done, but in this case, it will be simple.
‘If any woman or girl suffers voyeurism, sexual harassment, assault or rape in consequence of the lax new rules, the blame will rest squarely with those at Holyrood who ignored women’s campaigners.
‘And nobody should be held to higher account than the First Minister, the “real feminist” riding roughshod over the rights of women and girls.’
After Ms Rowling wore her controversial T-shirt, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘Men are the risk to women. Not trans women.’