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Denmark

Writer: ThriveThrive
Apr 9, 20213 min read

Population Size:

5,818,553.[1]

Number of People Experiencing Domestic Abuse Each Year:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark 2019-2022 action plan report: Every year, approximately 38,000 women and 19,000 men are victims of intimate-partner violence, and the numbers for psychological violence are estimated to be twice as high. Approximately 84,000 individuals are the victims of stalking every year, and in more than a quarter of these cases the victim is stalked by a partner or ex-partner. Women are the victims of physical and psychological intimate-partner violence, stalking and online harassment more often than men, and the violence against women is often more severe. The number of men who are victims of intimate-partner violence has been increasing since 2005. In 2017, 1,500 women and almost as many children stayed at a shelter. Of those women, 8% had more than one stay in 2017. Approximately 70% of women who stayed at a shelter in 2017 were under the age of 40. Almost 50% of women who stayed at a shelter in 2017 were of non-Western origin. Within the past year, 27.2% of young women aged 16-24 have been subjected to non-physical sexual harassment such as unwanted text messages, emails, online pictures or similar. For young men aged 16-24 the number is 6.7%.[2]

Cost of Domestic Abuse To The Economy Each Year:

2016: The European Institute for Gender Equality has estimated that the cost of intimate partner violence against women in Denmark could amount to EUR 1.2 billion per year.[3]

Estimated % Change due to COVID-19:

No exact stats but Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has observed that the number of women seeking refuge in a women's shelters has increased in Denmark over the COVID-19 period.[4]


Current Law and Policy:

Denmark marks the International Day to End Violence against Women by making the following commitments. Denmark will place special focus on violence against young women. We will initiate a national debate on how to eliminate attitudes and behaviours that condone violence, address the root causes and risk factors and focus on preventing “dating violence” by addressing gender stereotypes and promote respectful relationships and to raise awareness between girls and boys, women and men. We have launched a new study documenting best practices and efforts that have worked in changing attitudes, norms and practices.

Some 1.4 per cent of women are victims of domestic violence in Denmark. Up to 28,000 children live in homes where domestic violence occurs, and one in ten young women under the age of 24 have been abused by a partner. Denmark commits to continue its efforts and implement targeted activities to bring down the number of victims of domestic violence. Through its new Equal Futures Partnership programme Denmark has initiated a project that will run until the end of 2013, to increase awareness of violence in the family and train civil servants and front-line staff in municipalities to detect signs of violence and address them.

Denmark is committed to ensuring inclusive policies and strategies to eliminate other forms of violence against all women and girls, for example, women with disabilities, indigenous women, migrant women, adolescent girls, and honour related crimes. We will continue our efforts to implement legislative and policy measures and establish the necessary institutional mechanisms to support victims of human trafficking and ensure prosecution of traffickers.

Public spending - 2010: Violence against women costs the Danish society approximately DKK 1⁄2 billion (about €70 million) each year. This corresponds to an annual cost to society of approximately DKK 65,000 per violence-stricken women, who has either reported the violence to the police or contacted an emergency department because of violence. The annual costs are nearly DKK 280 (€40) per woman in the age group 16-64 years in the Danish population.[5]


Frontline Services:

 

Sources


[1] The World Bank, (1).


Further Reading


[1] UN Women, (10).




 

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