Denmark
Denmark regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Denmark's hate crime laws are comprised of a general penalty-enhancement provision. Reported data include discrimination and hate speech offences, although these can be disaggregated. Hate crime data are collected by the Danish National Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Hate crime statistics are regularly published. Denmark conducts regular victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.
How hate crime data is collected
The Danish National Police has monitored hate crimes since November 2015. Monitoring activities provide knowledge about the extent of hate crimes, of developments in the area, and enables accurate processing of cases.
The Danish National Police has national hate crime registration guidelines. When recording a crime, a police officer has to register case details, as well as a short description of the case. While bias motivation is not recorded, keywords are used to track hate crimes in the police database.
Police officers identify hate crimes by interviewing the victim and/or witnesses. They also take the crime scene into account. Police officers ask open questions about the victims' (and the witnesses') perception of the motive. The police officers must also be aware of physical characteristics of the victim and the offender. If the victim suspects they were subject to a hate crime, police officers must take this into account. If police officers suspect a hate crime, even though the victim has not mentioned it themselves, they must try to get the victim to elaborate. Police officers must be unprejudiced and make the victim feel as comfortable as possible.
All criminal cases are registered in the Danish Police case management system, POLSAS. The Danish National Police includes cases that are:
1. Motivated by racism, including: a. Nationality/ethnicity, b. Race/skin colour, c. Other;
2. Motivated by religious beliefs, including a. Christianity, b. Judaism, c. Islam, d. Buddhism, e. Hinduism, f. Other religious beliefs and congregations;
3. Motivated by sexual orientation, including a. Homosexuality, b. Transvestism (and transsexual), c. Other. The subcategory 'Transvestism' includes victims who have been targeted because of their gender identity and/or their gender expression.
The Danish National Police monitors hate crimes in its system using keywords. The keywords method was developed for the caseworkers to use when registering hate crimes in POLSAS.
The Danish National Police also monitors 'incidents without charges and other investigative measures' with a bias motivation. In addition, the Danish National Police monitors hate speech, which is a criminal offence according to section 266b of the penal code.
The Ministry of Justice conducts an annual victimization survey. In this survey, victims who report that they were subjected to violence are asked whether they think the violence was motivated by, for example, racism or sexual orientation.
Official Data
National developments
The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued detailed guidelines on the handling of hate crime cases within the police and prosecution service. The guidelines are updated on a regular basis. The guidelines are complemented by a system for vetting hate crime prosecutions by the Director of Public Prosecutions – this approach ensures uniformity of prosecution practice nationally.
The Copenhagen Police co-operates with the Municipality of Copenhagen and the civil society group Danish Institute for Human Rights on a project against discrimination and hate crime in the city, called “Stigmatized”. The Municipality of Copenhagen has developed a mobile application which makes it possible for citizens to register and report incidents of discrimination and hate crime. The reported information gives the municipality an overview of where, when and against whom the incidents occur. The municipality shares the incoming data with the Copenhagen Police Department to target the police’s preventative efforts.
As a follow-up on the action plan from 2009, the government initiated the development of a new national strategy on the prevention of radicalization and extremism. The national strategy was launched in September 2014. It focuses on strengthening co-operation with and support to civil society.
Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See
Reports
Anti-Semitism
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The Jewish Community of Denmark reported two physical assaults, one incident of threats, one incident of damage to a Jewish school and three incidents of graffiti. The Kantor Center and the Jewish Community of Denmark reported one further physical assault against a man and one incident of threats.read more ›
Bias against Christians and members of other religions
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The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians reported the attempted murder of a recent convert to Christianity.read more ›
International reports
No information is available.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Denmark has not reported to ODIHR the numbers of prosecuted hate crime cases or information on sentenced hate crime cases.
