In addition to hate crime figures presented below, in 2021 the police recorded 215 hate incidents (incidents of a non-criminal nature or where the criminal nature is unclear) motivated by bias. These incidents are excluded from the numbers below. The category “Unspecified” also may include cases that fall outside of the OSCE’s definition of hate crime, such as hate speech.
In 1 May 2021, Section 81, paragraph 6 of the Danish Criminal Code (on the aggravating circumstances to be considered when determining a penalty for a crime) was amended to include disability as a protected characteristic. The same provision was later amended to also include gender identity, characteristics of gender, and gender expression as a protected characteristic, and to allow for the provision's application in situations with mixed motives, such as where the bias motive correlates with other motives.
A new multi-year financial agreement for 2021 to 2023 was concluded between the Danish Police and the Prosecution Service. The agreement contained initiatives to improve the response towards hate crime victims, including by training police and prosecutors on hate crimes.
In June 2021, the Director of Public Prosecutions hosted a conference in which prosecutors discussed hate crimes with relevant stakeholders with the aim of better understanding the perspective of hate crime victims.
Includes all cases of hate crimes based on religion or belief (anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, and bias against other religions or beliefs).
This category includes hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "ECRI report on Denmark (sixth monitoring cycle)".
ODIHR recognizes Denmark's efforts in conducting a victimization survey addressing hate crimes and, in particular, submitting police data. However, based on the available information, it observes that Denmark has not reported data on hate crimes recorded by the prosecution and judiciary to ODIHR. In addition, ODIHR observes that Denmark would benefit from ensuring that hate crimes are addressed in a comprehensive manner, 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 ensure a comprehensive approach to hate crimes. Co-operation and co-ordination between the authorities and civil society organizations is needed to meet this commitment. ODIHR stands ready to support Denmark in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as further its comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of developing co-operation mechanisms to address hate crimes.