The sentencing figure reflects cases in which the hate crime sentence uplift was applied.
The Danish National Police’s hate crime data can have multiple motives; thus, some incidents are registered under more than one bias motivation.
The Danish National Police engage in regular dialogue on hate crimes with a number of relevant civil society groups, including the Muslim Council, the Jewish Community in Denmark, LGBT+ Denmark, and Disabled Peoples' Organisations Denmark. The dialogue between police and civil society was initiated to establish closer and ongoing co-operation with civil society and to gather input on future efforts of the police in this area. The dialogue also aims to encourage victims to report hate crimes to the police and identify any difficulties or barriers they face when doing so. The Danish National Police also maintains a close dialogue with the Jewish Community’s “Department for Mapping and Registering Anti-Semitic Incidents” (AKVAH) following the 7 October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel. The dialogue contributes to the efforts of establishing a national overview of anti-Semitic hate crimes and incidents in Denmark. In 2024, the Danish National Police also reached out to the community of people from Greenland in Denmark and ActionAid Denmark.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has developed guidelines for the Danish police and prosecutors concerning the handling of hate crime cases, including relevant case law on the characterization of these offences. The guidelines intend to ensure transparency and a uniform practice by the police and prosecution as to the application of Section 266 b and 81 (6).
The Danish Prosecution Service has a strong focus on the prosecution of hate crimes. The Director of Public Prosecutions has produced an overview of judgments in which the court has increased the sentence according to section 81, para. 6 of the Criminal Code. The overview was published on the Public Prosecutions Service’s website in February 2024 and is regularly updated with new cases where the court has identified a motive of hatred. Prosecutors and defense attorneys can use the overview for case preparation. The intention of the initiative is, inter alia, to improve the prosecution service’s handling of hate crime cases.
In 2024, the Danish government and all parties in the Danish Parliament agreed on 12 new initiatives to combat anti-Semitism and hate crimes in general. These include mapping anti-Semitism on social media, enhanced monitoring of anti-Semitism on tech platforms, developing educational materials, and establishing a 'National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism within the Danish National Police', as well as co-ordinators in the Copenhagen Police District. The initiatives also included new legislation allowing courts to increase punishments for hate crimes for a limited time period nationwide or in designated areas. The legislation was implemented in March 2025.
This category includes attacks on Jehovah's witnesses.
This category includes hate crimes motivated by bias against Buddhism, Hinduism and other religious beliefs.
This category includes hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation (108) and gender identity (including transgender and intersex) (22), which were reported as separate categories.
This category includes hate crimes based on nationality/ethnicity, race/colour, other racist crimes, including anti-Roma hate crime.
This category includes cases with no clear indication of bias motive yet unprovoked and directed against minority groups.
ODIHR recognizes Denmark's efforts to ensure transparency and a uniform practice by the police and prosecution as to the application of Section 266 b and 81 (6). However, based on the available information, it observes that Denmark has not reported data on hate crimes recorded by the prosecution to ODIHR. In addition, ODIHR observes that Denmark would benefit from addressing hate crimes comprehensively, including by introducing a co-ordination mechanism.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States committed to collecting reliable data and statistics in sufficient detail on hate crimes and to reporting such crimes periodically to ODIHR. Furthermore, in Ministerial Council Decisions 9/09 and 13/06, participating States committed to ensuring a comprehensive approach to hate crimes. Co-operation and co-ordination between the authorities and civil society organizations are needed to meet this commitment. ODIHR stands ready to support Denmark in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as through its resources on developing co-operation mechanisms to address hate crimes.
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Denmark from the following civil society organizations:
- European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses
- The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC)
- International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF)
To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that are broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsFor 2024, ODIHR received reports of 13 incidents that took place in Denmark in the following bias motivation categories: anti-Christian, and both racist and xenophobic and anti-Muslim. ODIHR observes that a low number of incidents were reported in Denmark. Almost all anti-Christian incidents reported targeted the Jehovah’s Witness community, most often in physical attacks, threats or harassment while they were engaging in religious activities. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting on Denmark relating to anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTI, gender-based or disability hate incidents. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Denmark.
To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Denmark to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Denmark click here and search by year and country.