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 partially 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 annual victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.

How hate crime data is collected in Denmark

How hate crime data is collected in Denmark

The Danish National Police has monitored hate crimes since November 2015. Monitoring activities provide knowledge about the extent of hate crimes and developments in the area, and enables the 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, search keys are used to track hate crimes in the electronic police case management system (POLSAS). Search keys are attached to relevant cases and are used as the foundation for searches and analyses across data.

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 witnesses') perception of the motive. Police officers must also be aware of physical characteristics of the victim and the offender. If the victim suspects they were subjected 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 bias against: a. nationality/ethnicity; b. race/skin colour; and c. other;

2. Motivated by bias against religious beliefs, including: a. Christianity; b. Judaism; c. Islam; d. Buddhism; e. Hinduism; and f. other religious beliefs and congregations;

3. Motivated by bias against sexual orientation, including: a. homosexuality; b. transvestism (and transsexual); and 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 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. From 2020, the victimization surveys will be more comprehensive in relation to hate crimes. A question about a possible hate motive will be included in sections on vandalism and crimes committed online, while religion will be added to the list of possible bias motives.

Access more information at the Legislation Online website Legislationline TANDIS Access more information at the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Information System (TANDIS) website

OFFICIAL DATA

Year Hate crimes recorded by police Prosecuted Sentenced
2019 469 - -
2018 449 - -
2017 446 Not available Not available
2016 274 Not available Not available
2015 198 Not available Not available
2014 Not available Not available Not available
2013 110 Not available Not available
2012 320 0 0
2011 384 0 0
2010 334 0 0
2009 306 5 1

Hate crime recorded by police

The hate crimes presented below include incidents without charges and other investigative measures that had a bias motivation. It also includes 100 incidents of hate speech, which falls outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime but could not be disaggregated.

National developments

In October 2019, when Denmark released its hate crime data for 2018, the Danish National Police also launched an awareness-raising campaign called "Stop the Hate". The campaign consisted of informative postcards distributed to Denmark's 12 police districts and disseminated by police officers during police exhibitions. The postcards were also distributed free-of-charge in restaurants, cafes, theatres and cinemas across the country over a two-week period. The purpose of the postcards was to encourage hate crime victims to report the incidents to the police. A video was also developed as part of the campaign.

INCIDENTS REPORTED BY OTHER SOURCES

Anti-Muslim hate crime

Date Type of incident Source Description
2019 Violent attacks against people
SETA
 Show info
2019-04 Attacks against property
SETA
 Show info
2019-04 Violent attacks against people
SETA
 Show info

Anti-Christian hate crime

Date Type of incident Source Description
2019-07 Attacks against property
OIDAC
 Show info
2019-03 Violent attacks against people
Jehovah's Witnesses
 Show info

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Anti-Muslim hate crime, Anti-LGBTI hate crime

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "Conclusions on the Implementation of the Recommendations in Respect of Denmark."

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers published relevant recommendations in its "Resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Denmark."

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR observes that Denmark has not reported to ODIHR the number of prosecuted and sentenced hate crime cases.