Danish law does not address domestic violence. Instead, general provisions should cover this. The relevant legislation is as follows:
The Istanbul Convention("Convention")
Denmark ratified and implemented the Convention in2014.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
This convention was ratified by Denmark in1983.
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
Denmark ratified this convention in 1953.
This includes a thorough catalog on general provisions regarding citizens' rights in Sections 71-85.
The Danish Criminal Code (Straffloven)
Domestic violence as such is not a concept in the Danish Criminal Code. Instead, the forms of behavior as stipulated in the Convention are governed by general criminal provisions such as assault (Article 244), serious/aggravated assault (Article 245), highly aggravated assault (Article 246), duress (Article 260), threat (Article 266) and sexual offenses (Articles 210-228).
The Danish Act on Restraining Orders
In this act, stalking is dealt with by the Danish regime of restraining and exclusion orders.
The Danish Social Services Act
According to Section 109, Danish municipalities are obligated to offer temporary accommodation to women who have been subject to violence, received threats of violence or who are experiencing equivalent crisis situations in their families or their relationships.
This recent action plan, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, applies from 2019 through 2022.
Denmark has a large number of unrecorded cases of domestic violence where the number of victims differs from 6,700 women on average per year to 24,000 women.[1] During 2019, 1,662 charges of rape were filed with the police. Only 314 of those ended with a verdict and 108 of the cases concerned child rape. Considering the small amount of filed cases, there is not much case law within this area.[2]
In the assessment carried out by the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action Against Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence[3] (GREVIO), Denmark was criticized for its lack of categorized data collection of victims and perpetrators. The Convention requires public authorities to collect data that is relevant for ending domestic violence. As a minimum requirement, the member states must categorize this data by sex, age, type of violence, relation to the perpetrator, etc. GREVIO acknowledges Denmark's widespread absence of the data collection categories. Very little data is disaggregated by sex and less by the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The lack of filed cases and lack of categorized data makes it more difficult to identify domestic violence against women in statistics and evaluate the case law. However, GREVIO acknowledges Denmark's use of a flagging system, which allows a case to be tagged as a "domestic violence case" irrespective of the provision of the Danish Criminal Code under which it is recorded, but stresses the need to add categorization of the data collected.[4]
As for the existing case law, the assessment is fairly consequential; the law is not based on freely given consent, which implies that the assessment of whether the accused is guilty of assault, sexual assault, rape, etc., becomes a matter of proving physical violence and whether the woman explicitly resisted.[5]The director of public prosecutions has the overall responsibility of handling criminal cases, including cases of domestic violence. The director of public prosecutions sets the guidelines for the police and the prosecution service on how to deal with cases concerning domestic violence.[6]
Regarding the court system, the Danish courts are composed of the Supreme Court, two high courts and 24 district courts, which represent the three basic levels of the Danish legal system. The Supreme Court never takes a position on the guilt or innocence of the accused in criminal cases. However, the parties in a case generally have the option of appealing the ruling of one court to a higher court. The question of guilt is usually handled by the district courts. Cases of a more serious nature involve jurors if the accused pleads not guilty.[7]The Danish Criminal Code states potential causes of action. Most are general criminal provisions rather than specific offenses because domestic violence is not a specific crime. However, violence is prohibited in various forms in Denmark such as simple, gross and exceptional physical assault, which can result in three to 10 years in prison. For repeated assault committed within the household, the sentence can be up to six years in prison. If the accused is a convicted criminal of the same crime, psychological violence or another crime with the character of intentional violence, the sentence may be increased. The cause of action for rape is imprisonment for eight years. If the rape is considered particularly dangerous in nature or if there are other aggravating circumstances, the cause of action is imprisonment for up to 12 years. A cause of action can also be based on incurred psychological violence, which is criminalized in Chapter 25, Section 243 of the Danish Criminal Code. "Psychological violence" is defined as a grossly degrading, insulting or abusive behavior with the intention of offending and controlling the victim, and it can result in a fine or imprisonment for up to three years. Anyone who removes a woman's external genitalia in whole or in part can be punished by imprisonment for up to six years, regardless of consent.[8]
General causes of action applied by Denmark include multiple action plans, national campaigns to raise awareness of domestic violence and discussions on adopting new sexual violence legislation based on freely given consent. Denmark works to prevent domestic violence, raise awareness and educate to try to reduce domestic violence. It also provides programs for perpetrators of domestic violence; however, GREVIO acknowledges that a significantly low quantity of convicted perpetrators is required to participate in the program as part of their sentences, considering the high number of reported physical assaults.[9]