We believe JK Rowling

[Gingerkittykat]

Following JK Rowling's brave disclosure of domestic abuse yesterday her weasel of an ex husband has given an exclusive interview to the Daily Fail admitting to slapping her but denying physical and sexual violence.

I'm gutted for her, after keeping something like that private for many years I know expect many on Twitter will use this article to attack her.

We all know that abusers are also liars, did anyone really expect that he would admit to what he had done?

As someone who has also been the victim of sexual violence I know all too well what it feels like to be called a liar, and also relate to the post-traumatic responses she talked about in her article.

I'm hoping Jo and her daughter have all of the support they need to deal with the aftermath of this.

Oh my actual god!!

Obviously I believe her

Should have said that first

The DM article is very pro JKR which I am pleasantly surprised by. Nearly every mention of her ex's denial is followed by "but he admits to slapping her hard" . The comments from the actors are also condemned by other tweets supporting JK.

Most of all though, they finish the article with a full copy of JKR's own statement so people can see for themselves how much her words have been twisted.

As an aside, I am really shocked to hear that The Leaky Cauldron (an independent HP fan site that has received incredible support from JKR over the years) has told people to stop buying the books and films. I loved that site as a teenager and it would not exist without JKR so God knows how they thought that was a good idea.

This has me in tears. What happened to her is so awful and the fact that they are giving a platform to her abuser is just awful.

I have loved her writing since I was little and I am in a similar situation now to what she was when she was younger having my abusive husband with my baby. When I first became a single mum her story gave me a lot of strength.

I always thought I was a supporter of trans rights but I don’t think there was anything wrong with what she wrote.

I think it is awful that people are sticking the boot into her when she is being sent such awful messages on Twitter.

I will write to her with my support and complain about the Sun. I do hope it makes some people think about the issues, no one has really engaged with what she said. I have been in a position where being in a refuge looked like an option for me. I have also in the past had a stalker who I hid from in the ladies toilets (and then phoned my boyfriend to come and get me). I think that having single sec spaces is important.

I believe her.
A disgraceful dogpile.

I believe her.

I actually think the Mail article was sympathetic to her and will hopefully generate a lot of support for her. However ethically it is dubious.

Can we complain to the press about Owen Jones because his behaviour was awful. Abused women and their allies- he has made it very clear he is not one. Ironically I would not have given a second thought to being in a refuge with a trans woman. However the abusive messages JKR got have made me change my mind. I don’t think anyone who send an abused woman a message saying suck my lady dick should be allowed in a refuge. I remain convinced that most trans people are vulnerable and may need a refuge but I don’t know what to think.

Siablue, Dr Jane Clare Jones is compiling examples of Owen Jones misogyny for an open letter to the guardian.

@DidoLamenting

I haven't read the interview, for those who asked

Hint - you might try reading before pontificating.

I've already explained why I didn't.

It's not complicated. Getting a direct interview from this guy means paying him, means he profits from his history with JKR. That is deeply distasteful to me.

It has nothing to do with some tribal war between news publications. In fact it now looks to me as if the Sun may have been the ones to actually pay for this "exclusive interview" - in which case you can transfer everything I've said over and apply it to them instead.

As for the idea you wouldn't have heard about it if the abusive ex had published his self defense via social media - I can almost guarantee you would have done. Because the papers would have picked up on it and reported it. The difference is they wouldn't have put money in his pocket by doing so.

I haven't clicked because clicks = ad views = money for the paper = justification to do this again, and I want no part in that. I'm surprised this view is remotely controversial on a feminist forum.

contactusdeletus

Your choice not to read it but posting The DM should think about who actuallybuytheir paper before jumping aboard the JK Rowling hate train

frankly makes you look a bit silly- the article is as far from "the JK Rowling hate train" as it could possibly be.

I see so many posts on FWR berating trans activists etc for not reading, misinterpreting, having no nuance, creating a purity spiral etc. and is that exactly what you have done.

You are so wildly wrong in describing the article as "the JK Rowling hate train" that I'll be taking anything else you post with a pinch of salt.

Langsdestiny I know Jane Claire Jones is going to write a letter to the Guardian but I do feel that it is important that others also do so.

Yes difficult to know which is more effective, many letters of complaint or one which pulls it all together signed by many.

I believe her. I'm disgusted that these papers have given an abuser a platform which he has also made money from. He slapped and her and says he doesn't regret it, what a lovely man. I'm so sick of how domestic abuse victims and treated and downplayed. Stay strong JK❤️

The Sun didn't pay him. Not sure about The Mail.

Neither article downplays what happened- far from it. Have you never heard the expression give enough rope to hang himself?

I don't know why you felt the need to say "I believe her". Both articles quite clearly believe her- especially The Mail's. The Mail's readers believe her too.

Its not even a question of believe/disbelieve.

Her ex admits the abuse.

“She refused to go without Jessica and, despite my saying she could come back for her in the morning, there was a violent struggle.
“I had to drag her out of the house at five in the morning, and I admit I slapped her very hard in the street.”

And that is the version he thought made him look good.

The only thing he doesn't admit is that he did something wrong.

"I had to drag her out of the house"

This is what he still says so many years later.

Both articles quite clearly believe her- especially The Mail's. The Mail's readers believe her too

Yes

And I believe her as well

I believe you Jo

It is clear that the DM have not spoken to the ex themselves. They are using the opportunity of reporting on the article published by the Sun to be broadly supportive of JKR and to include a copy of her essay for those of the readers who wouldn't find it on their own.
The Sun on the other hand...

The thing that really rang true m was how he described telling her she could return for her child the next day but she wouldn't leave without her so he attacked her. So many times I have heard of this in DV situations, women staying to be hurt because they couldn't/wouldn't leave their child. And he says it with no shame whatsoever. Man attacks women for trying to keep her child with her and he sees this as nothing to be ashamed of. Beggars belief.

This is so similar to what happened to me. I find the whole thing very triggering. I haven’t told many people what has happened to me because I do fear I will be disbelieved.

He didn’t just abuse her he abused her two month old baby. Jessica must have been so frightened too.

The public called the police and she subsequently had to take out a restraining order.

There is no way this was an isolated incident. But even if it was, it's disgusting. How do you drag a woman out of the house without abusing her?

I hadn't realised Jessica was only two months old at the time - he tried to throw her onto the street in the middle of the night 8 weeks after she had given birth? He tried to separate a mother from an 8 week old baby?

Yes, read the article again - she was just 2 months old.

That's a man who is using his child in the most despicable way possible.

Can you imagine if Caroline Flack had came out and said something similar about her ex? She would have been burnt at the stake even more so than she already was. JKs ex will get away with this scot-free because he's a man and the tra/m*a nutjobs will back him all the way. Absolutely sickening.