*In 2017, 19 complaints had other outcomes (withdrawn, other dispute settlement etc.).

*In 2018, 15 complaints had other outcomes (withdrawn, other dispute settlement etc.).

*In 2019, 18 complaints had other outcomes (withdrawn, other dispute settlement etc.).

Reply to paragraph 5

28.Several campaigns and initiatives raising awareness and targeting stereotypes have been launched since 2015, for example.

29.A campaign in 2018–2020 to raise awareness on women’s rights and promote gender equality among migrants, refugees and ethnic minorities. Municipalities, language schools and NGO’s can acquire free teaching modules. In 2019, a mid-term evaluation of the campaign showed, that the campaign had successfully reached the target audience and inspired them to change attitudes or behavior.

30.A youth panel on gender equality providing young activists with a platform to help shape gender equality policies. The panel will meet in six workshops and give inputs to the Government’s upcoming gender equality strategy.

31.The campaign “Reach Out” by the Danish Crime Prevention Council, which included a 10-episodes documentary series and aimed at preventing psychological intimate partner violence with information on psychological violence and its consequences and relevant support services for victims and perpetrators.

32.Initiatives by The Danish Film Institute (DFI) to increase the number of women in front and behind the camera. Monitoring and evaluation have shown that the initiatives have had an effect, especially on the number of women in front of the camera in motion pictures.

33.Rhythmic Music Conservatory is working to increase the percentage of female applicants with their policy on gender equality. In 2022 they expect to have 30% female applicants.

34.The Danish Royal Theater informs that in competitions for their permanent seats in the Royal Chapel, the applicants play behind a screen in the first two preliminary rounds to achieve anonymity and exclude information about gender. As of January 1st 2020, there are 47 women and 53 men hired as permanent members.

35.Regarding the charter for diversity, which the Danish Arts Foundation’s music committee issued in 2016, a number of musical organizations have subsequently prioritized gender equality.

Reply to paragraph 6

36.In the beginning of 2020, a campaign was launched about online harassment targeting young people and informing about penalties for non-consensual sharing of sexual images, online threats, hacking, fake dating profiles, online indecent exposure and pornographic image manipulation.

37.Since 2015, two people have been convicted for FGM. The case concerned the parents of two girls age 8 and 15. The police received 12 reports of FGM in 2015–2019. The police received 690 reports of honour related crimes in the period 2015–2018. These data have not been disaggregated, as this would entail assessing cases individually.

38.The Danish Parliament unanimously passed the law prohibiting construction of the artificial hymen on 4 April 2019. Violation of the new law is punishable with a fine of at least 10.000 DKK. The law came into force on 1 July 2019.

Gender-based violence against women

Reply to paragraph 7

39.An inter-ministerial working group on violence against women and violence in intimate relationships is responsible for coordinating data collection on violence against women and violence in intimate relationships.

40.The inter-ministerial working group have coordinated the implementation of five national action plans, which have included nationwide studies on the prevalence of intimate partner violence and rape and analyzing the development in prevalence over time. Studies were published in 2005, 2010 and 2017 and the next will be published in 2022. The upcoming study will disaggregate data by age, ethnicity, civil status, region, education, employment status and relationship between the victim and perpetrator.

41.Danish National Police and Statistics Denmark are working on a project to accumulate data on types of relationships between victims and perpetrators in police data systems. This will enable a collection of data that documents the extent of violence in intimate relations in Denmark, including age and nationality of the victims and perpetrators.

42.The Greenlandic Police and the Faroe Islands Police do not have a unified data collection mechanism as described.

43.The Ministry of Justice annually conducts a survey on the risk of becoming a victim of certain crimes in Denmark, e.g. violence. The study includes information about the gender of the victim and whether the perpetrator was a present or former intimate partner.

44.The Danish National Police offers guidance to victims on reporting sexual violence on the website https://politi.dk/anmeld/seksualforbrydelser/voldtaegt-og-seksuelle-overgreb, and has previously organized information campaigns to encourage victims to report violations.

45.Para. 7.3 and 8 d include descriptions of selected initiatives to improve the treatment of victims by public authorities.

46.The Danish National Police has updated the Guidelines on the police handling of cases regarding rape and rape-like conduct as a consequence of continuous monitoring of the area and meetings with the Danish National Police group of experts and the Danish National Police advisory forum. The guidelines state that questioning of the victim must take place outside public space. This also applies to any preliminary hearing, which must be conducted in a single person’s office, in a patrol car etc.

47.The latest amendments of the guidelines include a list of minimum investigative steps that the police have to take into consideration in every case. The minimum investigative steps is available on the website www.politi.dk.

48.The Greenlandic Police and the Faroe Islands Police form an integral part of Danish Police in the form of two police districts within the Danish realm. The guidelines on handling of cases regarding rape and rape-like conduct have been fully implemented by the Faroe Islands Police. The Greenlandic Police has not yet implemented the guidelines but their practice largely correspond to the issued guidelines.

49.Even though Faroe Island have assumed legislative and administrative power over the Criminal law, Denmark still has the legislative and administrative power over the police, prosecution and rules of court, as these matters have not been transferred to Faroese jurisdiction. Funds have been allocated specifically to collect data on domestic violence and this work will start in 2020.

Reply to paragraph 8

50.(a): On April 1, 2019, the Danish Government introduced a specific provision on psychological violence in close relations (family etc.) in the Danish Criminal Code.

51.Simultaneously, the Danish National Police published internal guidelines for the police districts on how to handle psychological violence cases. The guidelines address means of identification, registration, risk assessment and investigation in psychological violence cases, and contain a list of protective measures for risk management.

52.All police students at the National Police College receive training on how to prevent and detect violence, including intimate partner violence and psychological violence. Danish National Police continuously provides training on the topic of psychological violence during training in the use of evidence-based risk assessment tools. The risk assessment tools are used to assess the risk of repetitive and/or deadly violence in cases regarding stalking, intimate partner violence and honor-related violence.

53.On April 1, 2019, the Director of Public Prosecution has issued guidelines for the Danish police and the Danish Prosecution Service describing how cases of psychological violence should be handled including instructions on the identification of the cases, investigative steps, guidance of the victim, conditions for the application of the provision as well as the prosecutor’s penalty charge.

54.In addition to the guidelines, the Attorney General has – based on input from several NGOs – prepared a number of recommendations for the Danish police for the questioning of victims, accused and witnesses in cases of psychological violence.

55.Moreover, the Director of Public Prosecution has prepared a “starter kit” for the police districts and the local prosecutions service with teaching materials for local discussions on the new provision.

56.To determine the scope of the provision and to clarify the level of penalties, psychological violence has been designated as a focus area for prosecutors. This entails that cases of psychological violence must be submitted to the regional public prosecutor prior to prosecution and judgments must be submitted to the regional public prosecutor before the appeal deadline.

57.The provision on psychological violence and its implementation have also been discussed in various management fora within the Prosecutions Service.

58.The Director of Public Prosecutions has developed information material for victims of psychical violence in both Danish and English regarding the provision and its scope. The material is available on the Danish Prosecutions Service’s website.

59.According to the police case management program “POLSAS” charges have been brought for physical violence in 8 cases since the entry into force of the provision on April 1, 2019. There have been 2 convictions and 1 acquittal. The charges have been waived in 24 cases. Data from POLSAS may contain inaccuracies.

60.(b): In preparing for the new action plan against psychological and physical violence (2019–2022), the inter-ministerial working group on violence against women and violence in intimate relationships reviewed the need for initiatives in the area in 2018 with inputs from civil society organizations, and is now coordinating the implementation on the new national action plan responding to these needs.

61.(c): The Danish Center for Social Science Research’s 2018 report on the prevalence of psychological violence in Denmark showed, that 3.9 percent of women and 1.2 percent men had been exposed to psychological intimate partner violence within a one-year period. It also showed that psychological intimate partner violence is the most prevalent kind of intimate partner violence and the kind of intimate partner violence, where women are affected most disproportionately – more than three times more than men.

62.(d): On January 2019, a panel of experts gave its first recommendations on how the efforts against rape in Denmark can be strengthened regarding (1) the strengthening of the Danish authorities’ awareness of patterns from victims suffering from trauma, (2) ensuring obligatory minimum procedural steps to be taken by the Danish police and (3) introduction of the possibility for video interrogation of the victim. The Ministry of Justice has initiated the work along with three psychologists from Danish universities, and expect to be finished in the beginning of 2020. The Danish National Police has created guidelines on the treatment by the police of cases on rape and rape-like conditions. The Ministry of Justice, the Danish National Police and the Director of Public Prosecution are exploring the possibilities of offering video interviews of the first actual questioning of the victim along with possibilities for using the video as evidence in court.

63.On November 2019, the panel of experts gave its final four recommendations. The panel provided recommendations regarding the assessment of experiences from other countries of a trauma-informed practice by the authorities, namely using a trauma-focused approach to interrogation, encouraging the Ministry of Children and Education to update the current material on sexual education to include terms such as consent and voluntariness. The panel also recommended the initiation of an information campaign on use of language, culture, consent and voluntariness as well as the creation of a special corps of legal representatives, which should be given specific and targeted education and an improved remuneration.

Reply to paragraph 9

64.In 2019, the Minister of Justice requested the Standing Committee on Criminal Matters (Straffelovrådet), which holds the highest level of excellence in the field of criminal law, to review the provision on rape in the Danish Criminal Code, focusing on whether it sufficiently clearly reflects that sexual acts must be voluntary. The Minister of Justice also requested the Committee to propose specific amendments to the provision to ensure that it is clear that any sexual act must be based on mutual voluntariness.

65.On 19 February 2020, the Committee concluded its work. After consideration of the report, and public consultation, the Government will take steps to amend the existing provision on rape.

Greenland

66.Regarding Greenland, it should be noted that a particular Criminal Code applies specifically to Greenland. The Greenlandic Criminal Code differs from the Danish Criminal Code by not using the concept of punishment, but sanctions (“foranstaltning”), and by not stipulating maximum or minimum penalties for the individual offences.

67.The Greenlandic Criminal Code is based on the traditional Greenlandic focus on resocialization rather than punishment and is adapted to the traditional Greenlandic culture and attitude to sanctions where emphasis is placed on offender-focused policing (“gerningsmandsprincippet”). This means that the judge in the choice and meting out of the sanction must have regard to the offender´s personal situation, including what is deemed necessary to keep the offender from committing further offences, and not only the gravity of the offence.

Faroe Islands

68.The cooperation between the Ministry of Social Affairs/“Speak out”-campaign and the Police is ongoing. The emphasis is on prevention and raising awareness on these matters.

69.At the moment, the Government of Faroe Islands has no intention to base the legal definition of rape in the Faroese Criminal Code on lack of consent rather than on use of force, threats etc.

70.A number of legal amendments to the Criminal Code of the Faroe Islands in relation to sexual assaults were adopted in the spring of 2017. The penalty for rape was increased with an average of one year and the definition extended to include other illegal constraint and abuse of a helpless person as well as sexual assaults within marriage.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution

Reply to paragraph 10

71.473 persons were identified as victims of human trafficking in Denmark in the period 2015–2019 (please note that 2019 data have not yet been confirmed).

72.Of the 473 victims of trafficking, 328 were female, 140 were male and five were transgendered. Of the 328 female victims of human trafficking 319 were over the age of 18 by the time of identification and nine were under the age of 18. The nine girls range from 12 years of age to 17 years of age with an average of 16 years of age at the time of identification.

73.The 319 women range from 18 years of age to 57 years of age with an average of 28 years of age at the time of identification.

74.Please find statistics in Annex 1 disaggregated by gender, age, nationality and exploitation. Denmark does not register data on disability, ethnicity and national minority status.

75.In accordance with the Danish National Action Plan to combat Human Trafficking, all identified victims are offered support including safe accommodation, juridical assistance, medical and psychological support.

76.From 2015 and until now the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Denmark (Erstatningsnævnet) has processed two cases from female applicants who were recognized as victims of human trafficking. The cases are listed below. The provider of the compensation is the State.

Year	Sex	Age	Nationality	Amount claimed	Amount awarded	Form of exploitation	Compensation	Status
2017	Female	19	Bulgaria	60.000 DKK	18.000 DKK	Prostitution	Tort compensation	The application is still under consideration by the Board regarding permanent injuries.
2018	Female	40	Thailand	60.000 DKK	50.000 DKK	Prostitution, threats	Tort compensation	The case is closed

77.Thirty-nine female victims of human trafficking received an assisted voluntary return to their country of origin or country of residence after being identified as victims of human trafficking by the Danish Authorities.

78.Since 2015 prosecutions have been raised in 12 cases involving incidents (in Danish “forhold”) where women are registered as victims in a human trafficking case.

79.In 6 cases of human trafficking, which included incidents (in Danish “forhold”) in which women are registered as victims, conviction occurred and in 5 cases there were acquittals.

80.It should be noted that a prosecution raised in one year may be settled in another year. The figures are broken down as follows:

Year	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Prosecutions	5	1	2	0	4
Convictions	2	1	2	0	0
Acquittals	2	1	3	0	0

81.The Danish Centre against Human Trafficking (CMM) is in accordance with The Action Plan responsible for education and training of relevant players in order to ensure that they are aware of the signs and signals that a person could be a victim of human trafficking. CMM inter alia teaches trainees at the police academy, embassy staff, and selected groups of health professionals. Over the years, CMM has also taught judges, prosecutors, the Working Environment Authority, the Central Customs and Tax Administration, NGOs and other players and partners.

82.Women are most often trafficked into prostitution and men are most often trafficked into forced labor. Therefore, the signs and signals of human trafficking can be different for men and women, just as men and women can react differently to human trafficking. Education and training of relevant actors has a gender-sensitive aim and the different needs of men and women are taken into account in relation to accommodation of the victims.

Reply to paragraph 11

83.a) The latest research on prostitution is from 2011, when SFI (now VIVE – The Danish Center for Social Science Research) estimated the number of men and women in prostitution to make up about 3,200 people. In November 2019 the Danish Parliament allocated funds to update the knowledge base on prostitution in Denmark. The new survey will be concluded early 2021.

84.b) See Denmark’s ninth periodic report, para 67–72.

85.c) In November 2019 the Danish Parliament allocated 55 mio. DKK in the period 2020–2023 for an exit package targeting people, who want to leave prostitution or want counseling in relation to their prostitution experiences.

86.d) See Denmark’s ninth periodic report, para 67–72.

87.e) The current Government has closed down the working group in order to set a different and more social direction for the efforts against prostitution. The Government finds it crucial that the work focuses on assistance that takes care of the overall life situation of people in prostitution – and does not focus mainly on the income or occupations.

Participation in political and public life

Reply to paragraph 12

88.After the general elections in 2019, women accounted for 38.9 percent of the national parliament (68 out of 175 seats). This is an increase since the 2015 elections. Seven out of 20 ministers in the Government are women (35.0 percent).

89.Following the European Parliament elections in 2019, 7 of the 14 elected Danish members are women (50.0 percent). At the election in 2014, 5 out of 13 Danish members were women (38.5 percent).

90.After the municipality elections of 2017, 33% of all in appointed decision-making positions in municipalities were women, which is an increase from 30% following the 2013 elections. The number of female mayors increased from 12 (out of 98) in 2013 to 14 in 2017.

91.The Government will in the coming years have an increased focus on ensuring that more women are included in decision-making positions on both the local, regional or national level.

92.Updated data on the proportion of women in appointed decision-making positions in in the boards and managements of public or State-owned enterprises will be available in the fall of 2020.

93.The Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce inequalities and promote gender equality and equal opportunities, including increasing the proportions of women in the Danish military observer and staff officer contributions to the UN missions, and Denmark is currently at 20%, well above the UN target of 16%.

94.In addition to the initiatives mentioned in the 9th report (Article 8, para. 107 and 108), the Danish MoD has implemented mentors providing guidance and career counseling for all staff groups, targeted recruitment efforts including female role models, measures to retain women in the armed forces and the Army’s “Vallø Award”, supporting initiatives that promote the army as a career path for women.

95.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs works actively to reach gender balance at management level including by nursing the pipeline for future female leaders. In 2019, 41 percent of newly appointed leaders were women, leaving the Ministry with 32 percent women in management (23 percent in 2013). The Ministry is following a policy stipulating that Senior Management should always have a choice of at least one female and one male candidate.

96.The Government will continue to monitor the development in women in politics at all levels closely. However, the Government will not take measures to change the legal position in Denmark, where women and men have the same rights and opportunities to stand for elections and to join politics. For further information, reference is made to para. 103 in Denmark’s ninth periodic report.

97.In the spring of 2019, the number of women in the judiciary were as follows:

•Court presidents: 12 women (41.4 percent)

•Supreme Court judges: 5 women (27.8 percent)

•High Court judges: 41 women (42.7 percent)

•District Court judges: 140 women (58.8 percent)

•The Special Court of Indictment and Revision: 3 women (60 percent)

Faroe Islands

98.Despite Demokratia’s (CEDAW/C/DNK/9, para. 270) efforts to urge the Parliament to ensure that an equal number of men and women are on the electorate list there is no majority in Parliament to do so by law. In connection with elections to the Parliament and the Municipals Councils, Demokratia has urged the political parties to ensure equal number of men and women on their lists, but not all parties have followed this recommendation.

Greenland

99.Women have the same right as men to represent Greenland internationally. The ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Greenlandhas a staff of 21 employees composed of 13 women and 8 men. The Permanent Representation in Copenhagen has a female Head of Representation.

100.Political parties are encouraged to list equal numbers of women and men on their candidate lists. In some parts of the political system, Greenland has more women than men. For example, three out of Greenland’s five mayors are women.

Education

Reply to paragraph 13

101.Initiatives promoting access to STEM education have been launched as part of The Strategy for Natural Sciences published by the Danish Government in March 2018. The initiatives have not yet been evaluated.

102.One of the large initiatives is a current program testing how ‘technological comprehension’ can be taught as a separate subject and how it can be integrated into other subjects in primary and lower secondary school. A midterm evaluation in 2020 will look at the effects on different groups of pupils including girls and boys.

103.The yearly national campaign day “Girls’ Day in Science” is another example of an initiative in the collaboration between the Government and the private sector to promote women’s access to STEM educations (cf. para. 29). Girls in lower and upper secondary school meet role models who can inspire them to a future with science, technology, IT or crafts.

104.Labour market and colleges take measures to encourage women and men to choose non-traditional fields of education and career paths, such as science and technology for women and caregiving roles for men. With reference to concluding observation 28(a), the Ministry of Children and Education is in the process of launching a nation-wide effort to develop and disseminate good practice on educational environments, with focus on inter alia attracting more females to traditional male programs and vice versa.

105.In January 2020, the Minister for Equal Opportunities met with headmasters and representatives from higher education institutions in order to discuss ways to reduce gender segregation in education and to collect inspiration for future policies to promote gender equality in vocational education.

106.The Government has granted DKK 102 million in the period 2019–2022 to the STEM programs in order to increase admissions to STEM programs in higher education. The government has recommended that funds are used to recruit more women.

Faroe Islands

107.For a small society like the Faroe Islands it is of great importance for the sustained livelihood that young people do not leave the country at a too young age because they may never return. To prevent this unfortunate emigration we need qualified learning opportunities in the local societies. Therefore, the number and variety of educations aimed both at academic and vocational choices for both women and men and girls and boys have been upgraded.

Greenland

108.See annex for figures on gender in education. Throughout the education system, boys, girls, men and women have equal rights to schooling and educational opportunities within all study areas. The focus in education is on raising the general level of education in the entire population.

109.The Department of Education does not specifically focus on the issue of more women in men (or vice versa for that matter) at the moment.

Reply to paragraph 14

110.In 2018, a new strengthened pedagogical curriculum was enforced, amongst many other things focusing on how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) can contribute to the realization of children’s full potential, no matter their gender, culture or ethnicity. An inspiration catalogue helps pedagogical staff to promote equality between the sexes.

111.There is a direct challenge relating to attracting more men to the ECEC specialization of the Danish pedagogical bachelor program. The Government plans to launch a plan which will address the education of pedagogical staff in ECEC. The plan shall amongst other things focus on the quality of the pedagogical bachelor program.

112.In 2019, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science assigned the University of Copenhagen a starting grant to develop a 1-year academic advanced level program in gender studies.

113.The Independent Research Fund Denmark has been allocated DKK 65 million in 2018 and DKK 50 million in 2019 for research in “People and Society”; part of these funds have been granted to research on gender.

114.The Independent Research Fund Denmark has also been allocated DKK 20 million in 2020 to establish a program to strengthen talent development in the Danish research environments and to promote gender diversity in research.

115.The Innovation Fund has taken a number of initiatives to strengthen the gender balance among applicants, including female ambassadors, a pilot project to attract more female applicants, requirements for large research partnerships to reflect on diversity in the team and increased gender balance in the panels and annual recipients of prizes. Analysis and interviews with women in the target groups as a basis for policy gender diversity were performed in 2018. Next step in 2020 is to take the findings and translate them into principles for diversity in Innovation Fund Denmark and amongst applicants.

116.Please find in the annex data on migrant girls’ score, well-being and transition in the school system.

117.All schools are required to give basic education in Danish as a second language to bilingual girls and boys who, when admitted to school, lack the linguistic prerequisites in Danish to be able to participate in the class’ teaching with a reasonable learning outcome.

118.All public and private schools with more than 30 pct. children living in a residential area that has been on the official list of exposed residential areas at least once within the last 3 years are required to test the language skills of all pupils in the kindergarten class.

119.Refugees and migrants who have a language other than Danish as their mother tongue and who wish to apply for higher education in Denmark can take a one-year Danish high school integration program. Successful completion of the program allows students to apply for most higher education courses on equal terms with applicants who have a Danish General Upper Secondary School Leaving Certificate.

120.In primary school, the Government will seek to ensure that the rules regarding exemption from physical education in primary and lower secondary school does not disadvantage girls and boys with disabilities with regard to their ability to pass an examination and thus their opportunity to obtain legal requirements for admission to an upper secondary education.

121.In 2019, the former Government has launched a study of educational outcomes and patterns for children and young people with disabilities without intellectual difficulties. The survey’s purpose is to uncover, how children and young people with different disabilities manage compared with children and young people without disabilities. The study is expected to be completed in spring 2020.

122.Upper secondary education and educational training are open for all as well, if the required admission requirements are respected. Neither information about the students’ physical nor mental health nor their sexual orientation, ethnic or religious background are registered. Students with disabilities are entitled to special needs aid in order to be able to undertake education on as equal terms as possible.

Reply to paragraph 15

123.The Government supports the NGO The Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) with DKK 2.7 million a year in order to make sure that Health, Sexual and Family Education is up to date and involves current prioritized topics. The funding also contributes to teaching materials made for DFPA’s annual campaign ‘Week Sex’. In 2019, just over 500,000 pupils and more than 16,000 teachers from primary and lower as well as upper secondary school participated in Week Sex.

124.The Danish Government acknowledges that the compulsory subject “Health, Sexual and Family education” in the public school in Denmark needs to be improved. The 2019 evaluation shows among other things a lack of priority by school principals, unclear division of responsibilities at the individual schools as well teachers’ limited knowledge of the topic and deficient teaching in some of the content areas such as norms, sexual health, children’s rights and diversity in relation to gender, body and sexuality. The political parties behind the Agreement on the Danish Public School agrees that teaching in different sexualities, rights, norms and boundaries etc. is important in relation to the development and education of the students. Due to the parliamentary election, the discussion was delayed but will be initiated among the political parties in 2020.

125.It is a stated purpose of Danish upper secondary education that students are introduced to and learn to respect, fundamental human rights and gender equality. Therefore, many upper secondary schools work with questions of gender and sexual behavior either in specific subjects or as a common theme for the whole school. Digital sexual offences have been on the agenda at many schools.

126.Sexuality education is an element in the curriculum of the teacher education program as an integral part of the optional course “Health education, sexuality education and family life”. As part of the recent evaluation of the Danish teacher education, a survey amongst fourth year teacher students showed, that only 21 pct. of a cohort had participated in the course. Consequently, the Government has instructed the university colleges to develop a joint national plan of action to improve students’ competences in sexuality education. The government received the national plan of action late 2019 and is now considering the follow up process.

127.In 2019 the Project SEXUS report was published. It is the largest Danish study to date on a broad range of sexual health and quality-of-life. The report showed, that 5.1% of the 15–19 year old female respondents had at least once had naked pictures of themselves shared against their will, compared to 1.6% of male similarly aged male respondents. The report also showed that 17.5% of the 15–24 year old female respondents said that they had experienced sexual harassment at their workplace, compared to 6% of similarly aged male respondents.

128.According to a survey by National Institute of Public Health, 27 % of female respondents between 16 and 24 years had experienced sexual harassment within a one-year period.

129.The Government has taken a number of measures to address harassment – including the campaigns mentioned under issue 5. As part of the national action plan against violence in close relations, the Government is providing funding for a hotline service for victims of digital harassment.

130.The Children Counsel’s (Børnerådet) latest report regarding digital harassment shows that 16 percent of the pupils in 9th grade have been subjected to digital harassment within the last year and 15 percent have subjected others to digital harassment. More boys (21 percent) than girls (10 percent) indicate that they have subjected others to digital harassment.

131.To address digital harassment and bullying in school, all primary and upper secondary schools has since 2017 been required to adopt an anti-bullying strategy – including on digital bullying or harassment. The law requires the school management in instances of all types of bullying within 10 working days to draw an action plan, which points out the measures the school will implement to solve the problems effectively. In addition, the school management must immediately implement the interim measures that are necessary here and now to respond to the problems identified. An evaluation is expected to be finished in late March 2020.

132.In 2018, the Ministry of Children and Education carried out the first survey on student well-being in general upper secondary education. In the survey, 1% of female students reported having experienced digital bullying “once in a while” and 1% of female students reported having experienced unwanted sexual attention “often” and 3% “once in a while”.

Employment

Reply to paragraph 16

133.(a) A report by the Danish Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE) from 2018 commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Employment showed that while the unadjusted gender pay gap had decreased by almost 25 pct. between 2007 and 2016, the adjusted gender pay gap remained at approximately 7 pct.

134.The Ministry has commissioned a new report, which – through new research methods and additional register-based data – will analyse further the factors behind the adjusted gender pay gap. The report is expected in September 2020 and will hopefully bring new insights into the root causes of the adjusted gender pay gap and the possible measures needed to address them.

135.(b) The Government will continue to measure both the unadjusted and adjusted gender pay gap. The unadjusted gender pay gap helps to identify the consequences of a gender-segregated labour market on men and women’s earnings. Thus, the decrease in the unadjusted gender pay gap in Denmark is linked to more women getting better qualifications and higher levels of education and thus moving up into managerial positions or positions requiring expert skills and knowledge.

136.However, in the aforementioned upcoming report on the factors behind the adjusted gender pay gap, the Ministry of Employment and the Danish Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE) have decided to move away from the pay concept of “hourly earnings per hour present” and only apply the pay concept of “standardized hourly earnings” which is generally considered better reflecting the actual income of the workers in question rather than the costs for the employers.

137.(c) The current Danish Government, has not yet made any formal decisions on how to address the issue of pay transparency at company level. The Government is awaiting the upcoming initiative by the European Commission to increase pay transparency and ensure the enforcement of the principle of equal pay.

138.(d) No new measures have been taken at this point. The Act on Equal Pay states that all employers must afford women and men equal pay for equal work or work of equal value with regards to all pay elements and pay conditions. Job classification systems used as a basis for the determination of pay must be based on the same criteria for male and female workers and must preclude discrimination on the grounds of sex.

Greenland

139.Statistics Greenland forms a basic register containing income and tax information for all persons fully taxable in Greenland and links this to the Population and Household Register, containing information on the total population and its distribution by demographic characteristics such as gender, place of residence, place of birth, etc. in order to form a person-oriented a household-oriented and a tax-oriented income register.

Faroe Islands

140.At present the Faroe Islands do not have any adequate statistical data to further explain the gender wage gap other than that provided in the report. However, by the end of 2020 a new wage statistical program will be launched that will provide more insight to wage, payment pr. hour, segregated by sex, age, sector and geography. Please see Annex for existing statistical data and methodology applied.

Reply to paragraph 17

141.For all publicly listed companies, the proportion of women on boards has increased from 9.6 percent in 2012 to 17.4 percent in 2019. These figures do not include board members elected as employee representatives.

142.For all the companies covered by the legislation regarding women on boards and in other management levels (about 2,100 companies in 2019), the proportion of women on company boards has increased from 15.8 percent in 2016 to 17.9 percent in 2019. These figures do not include board members elected as employee representatives.

143.Statistics Denmark registers the number of women on boards and in management in all private and public limited companies. There were 15.2 percent women in management in all listed companies in 2018.

144.In 2015, the Danish Business Authority (DBA) announced orders to four companies regarding compliance with section 99b of the Danish Financial Statements Act (FSA). In 2017 the DBA announced orders to approx. 70 companies to submit information to the DBA to fully comply with the relevant legislation in section 99b of the FSA. The DBA followed up on these orders in 2018 and 2019 to ensure that that companies were in full compliance with the legislation. No administrative fines have been imposed on companies as a result of non-compliance with section 99 b.

145.To accelerate the progress in the share of women in management and board positions, the Government has launched inspiration materials sharing good practices on promoting balanced participation of women and men in management, as well as cooperated with the recruitment industry on a code of conduct for promoting balanced participation of women and men in management and boards. Copenhagen Business School monitors the development in companies that have signed up to the code of conduct.

146.In 2018, the former Government published a catalog of cases for inspiration, in which directors and chairmen gave their suggestions to how Danish companies and institutions could get more female representation in boards of directors and management.

147.In 2019, the Government launched a project regarding more structured reporting on non-financial information with an aim to enhance the value of reporting. By requiring structured data on gender diversity on boards, it will be possible to have more transparency on both the targets and the proportion of women on boards. This will provide the basis for evaluating the progress of the company and for comparing companies. Furthermore, there will be a basis for publishing such information.

Greenland

148.In all government owned companies the board of directors is gender balanced – half the members are women and half are men as stated by Inatsisartutlov no. 3 of 29th November 2013 on Equality between men and women. There has been no change in legislation within the latest years.

Reply to paragraph 18

149.(a) The Danish Government is currently considering the best way to implement the new EU Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers (Directive 1158/2019). The Directive gives workers an individual right to parental leave of four months, two of which must be compensated and non-transferrable. The Directive also gives workers a right to carers’ leave of five working days per year subject to appropriate substantiation, in accordance with national law or practice. Furthermore, EU Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that workers with children up to a specified age, which shall be at least eight years, and carers, have the right to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes.

150.The Directive’s date of implementation is 2 August 2022.

151.The Government is currently contemplating other adjustments to the existing legislation on maternity, paternity and parental leave in order to facilitate a more equal sharing of leave within the family.

Greenland

152.Maternity, paternity and parental leave is regulated in Parliamentary Act no. 14 of 7 December 2009 on leave and per diem for pregnancy, maternity and adoption. The maternity leave is 17 weeks, the paternity leave 3 weeks and the parental leave 21 weeks, which can be shared between the parents. The parental leave has been extended from 17 to 21 weeks. The law emphasizes the parents’ shared responsibility.

Faroe Islands

153.(b) The Bill to extend the period of parental leave was adopted and both weeks were added to the shared parental leave.

154.(c) Much focus is on shared parental leave in the general debate and conferences have been held to raise awareness on the issue. However, the trend is still that fathers only take the weeks of parental leave that are assigned to them while the mother takes the shared weeks.

Denmark

155.(d) The Government and the parties behind the political agreement on the State Budget for 2020 have agreed to re-introduce a maternity equalization scheme for self-employed persons. The details of the new scheme, including the target group and the relevant legislative amendments, will be discussed with the Danish Parliament in 2020 in order for the new scheme to come into effect a soon as possible.

156.There is no formal or general registration of persons with disabilities in Denmark. There are a number of different registrations on persons with disabilities for example in the public health system and in the area of social services, but none of these constitutes a cross-sectional database of the total number of persons with disabilities in Denmark. For the last 10–15 years, data on persons with disabilities in Denmark in the employment sector has been based on reports and analyses made by the Danish Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE). These reports are based on representative surveys conducted by Statistics Denmark coupled with register-based data.

157.The latest report was published in 2017 and the next is expected in the summer of 2020.

158.These reports contain a number of statistical uncertainties. This is one of the reasons the Government is looking into the possibilities of developing a potential model for registration of disabilities.

159.It is possible to disaggregate the survey data on gender, but it is not possible to derive all the requested information from the report.

160.In autumn 2018, the Government and a number of opposition parties in the Danish Parliament agreed on increasing the number of persons with disabilities in employment. The agreement consisted of 11 different initiatives divided into four key focal points:

•Less bureaucracy and easier transitions between sectors.

•Targeted and increased efforts to increase employment rate for persons with disabilities.

•Improvement of educational possibilities.

•More knowledge about disabilities and less prejudice.

161.The overall goal of these initiatives is to increase the employment rate among persons with disabilities. As part of the agreement, the Government set a goal that before 2025, the employment rate for persons with disabilities will be increased by 13.000 people.

162.The agreement focuses on all persons with disabilities and does not include measures specifically aimed at increasing employment among women with disabilities.

163.IGU (Integration Basic Education) shall help newly arrived refugees and their families into work. IGU lasts two years and includes employment in a company as an apprentice and education. In first quarter of 2017 the share of women among new IGU employees was 18 per cent. In second quarter of 2019 the share had risen to 56 per cent.

164.The initiative ‘More Employment amongst Immigrant Women’ (2019–2022) involves 15 Danish municipalities and applies a holistic approach with a focus on individual case mapping, coordinated multiagency cooperation, and qualifications upgrade along with cross-municipal sharing of best practice. In 2022 a best practice catalogue will be published by the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration for dissemination in all municipalities.

165.The Danish Government is not aware of any studies on the effects of the 2018 ban on covering the face in public places had on access to employment for migrant women.

166.Besides the legislative measures mentioned in the report, the primary measures taken to prevent and combat sexual harassment at the workplace are:

•Changes to the Danish Working Environment Authority’s (WEAs) inspection practices and ability to respond to cases of sexual harassment

•A campaign on sexual harassment at the workplace

•WEAs website and hotline

167.The WEA has been able to conduct interviews solely with employees since the 1 July 2018 and respond to a broader range of cases of sexual harassment internally in organizations since the 15 March 2019. Before the 15 March 2019, the WEA could respond to situations where sexual harassment was in the form of bullying, i.e. when one or more individuals regularly and over a longer period of time – or repeatedly in a serious manner – expose one or more individuals to negative acts, which they perceive as hurtful or degrading and are unable to defend themselves effectively against. The change of an executive order has enabled the WEA to respond to a broader range of negative acts of a sexual nature, including situations where sexual harassment is not in the form of bullying when sexual harassment poses a health and safety risk. The WEA can also respond to single acts of gross sexual harassment that pose a health and safety risk.

168.The WEA has written new guidelines on the employer’s duty to prevent negative acts, including bullying and sexual harassment.

169.The social partners and the WEA launched a campaign on preventing sexual harassment at the workplace in September 2019. The campaign includes a newly developed tool aimed at making it easier to talk about and prevent sexual harassment at the workplace.

170.On the WEA website, companies and individuals have easy access to relevant information concerning negative acts, including bullying and sexual harassment.

171.Since 2010, the WEA has had a hotline staffed by WEA inspectors, who are trained in answering questions about negative acts, including bullying and sexual harassment at the workplace.

172.In 2019, the hotline received 380 calls.

173.In 2019 the Danish Ministry of Defence (MoD) conducted a survey among personnel and conscripts in the Danish Armed Forces in order to shed light on the extent and character of sexual harassment.

174.The survey results will serve as foundation for strategic initiatives to be launched in 2020. The overall aim is to increase awareness of sexual harassment and motivate cultural change. One initiative is to underline that all levels of leadership must take responsibility and promote zero tolerance against sexual harassment. Furthermore, with an internal campaign all personnel have been informed about how and where to find help and information if they should be exposed to harassment in any form. All agencies and authorities within the MoD have been tasked to follow up on this by introducing and developing further initiatives and plans.

175.Other initiatives include:

•Dialogue based training programs and information material aimed to motivate cultural change.

•An online platform where all the information, materials and data on the subject will be available.

Health

Reply to paragraph 19

176.The new set of National Guidelines to Maternity Care were not published in 2019 as expected. The guideline was sent in public consultation on 11 November 2019. and is expected to be published in 2020.

177.The study on health risks and risks of marginalization and poor wellbeing mentioned in para. 50 can be accessed here (in Danish only): https://www.sst.dk/da/Udgivelser/2019/Danske-LGBT-personers-moede-med-almen- praksis-udfordringer-og-muligheder.

Greenland

178.No specific studies have been made on the area of abortion rates in Greenland. The present studies that have touched upon the subject have not provided a clear answer to the causes of the high incidence of unwanted pregnancy.

Faroe Islands

179.According to the Law on Abortion, women are only allowed to have an abortion, if they have been abused or if the mother’s or child’s health is in danger; this may have an impact on the low rate of abortion in the Faroe Islands. Women and girls in the Faroes Islands have access to safe and legal abortion services under certain conditions according to Faroese legislation.

180.Recognizing the cultural differences between Denmark and the Faroe Islands and the subsequent fact that Danish laws such as the Law on Abortion did not reflect the Faroese society the Faroe Islands have assumed the legislative power over this matter.

181.The Government in the Faroe Islands (as of September 2019) has no plans to amend the legislation regulating abortion.

HIV/AIDS

Reply to paragraph 20

182.In the table below you find the reported number of woman living with HIV/AIDS divided by age and place of origin.

Table 1 Reported number of women living in Denmark registered with HIV/AIDS, 1 January 2020

	Place of birth
Age	Denmark	Foreign country	Total
00 – 14 years	20	53	73
15 – 25 years	109	263	372
26 – 64 years	485	1098	1583
65+ years	12	5	17
Unknown	7	28	35
TOTAL	633	1447	2080

Source: Statens Serum Institut.

183.The Ministry of Health has no knowledge of assessments of the impact of the initiatives described in para. 175 of the report to address the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases especially among migrant women belonging to ethnic minorities.

Greenland

184.The high occurrence of sexually transmitted among girls and may be a consequence of the fact that girls become sexually active before boys. The study “Unge I Grønland” (Youth in Greenland) shows that more than half the Greenlandic women and almost a third of men had their sexual debut before they turned 15. The fact that there more women are detected with sexually transmitted diseases may be attributed to greater frequency of testing as this is done during pregnancy for this group.

Women and climate change

Reply to paragraph 21

185.The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) is responsible for the Danish national fire and rescue service. On several occasions a gender perspective is included in the statistical work and analyses of DEMA. Statistics on e.g. deaths from fires address the vulnerability of different profiles as a basis for preventive actions. Data does not indicate that women are more exposed to the consequences of accidents and disasters.

186.Also the international division in DEMA is attentive to gender perspectives both in relation to personnel and the people receiving assistance. On missions within the last five years, 8.4 % of the personnel were women. DEMA has an ambition to increase this percentage. The deployed teams always sign an international code of conduct with attention to non-discrimination and non-harassment. Many of DEMA’s missions have contributed to strengthening local capabilities and reducing gender-related dimensions of disaster risks. For example DEMA’s water purification mission in Mozambique, which established a safe and renewable water source at a maternity hospital.

Greenland

187.Gender aspects are not integrated in strategies related to climate adaption or disaster response.

Marriage and family relations

Reply to paragraph 22

188.In April 2019, a new Family Law System came into force in Denmark with new authorities – the Agency of Family Law and the family courts. The Agency of Family Law is the main entrance for handling all disputes and matters relating to family law, including cases concerning custody, the child’s residence and contact.

189.The focus of the new system is on the well-being of the child. The hearing of the child is secured in all situations, while a case is pending. A Child Unit is set up within the Agency to protect the child. The Unit is the child’s own entrance to the system and provides a contact person to support the child throughout the process.

190.The new system ensures a better cross-sectorial cooperation between the family law authorities and the Social Services. The Agency is obliged to contact the Social Services every time the Agency receives information on a complex case concerning parental responsibility in order for the authorities to cooperate on the best solution for the child.

191.The Act on Parental Responsibility was changed emphasizing that in all decisions the Agency and the family court must focus on ensuring the child’s well-being and protect the child from violence or other treatment that exposes the child to harm or danger, including witnessing violence.

192.Furthermore, the new system includes provisions stipulating, that a party in a family law case, for instance a mother in a custody case, is not obliged to attend a meeting at the Agency with the other parent, if the other parent has exposed the parent or the child to violent behaviour or violent behaviour is suspected. This includes meetings on reconciliation or mediation.

193.Danish family law provides the same rights and obligations for all parents with the exception that an unmarried woman have sole custody over the child, unless the parents agree on having joint custody. Parents, who are married, automatically have joint custody.

194.According to the 2018 legislation on handling of property during divorce, all assets are divided equally between the spouses, except for certain assets, for example assets covered by a prenuptial agreement.

195.A spouse in a bad financial situation after a divorce, for instance a female homemaker, may make a request for compensation from the other spouse, provided that the other spouse has a large fortune, which is not divided, for example because of a pre-nuptial agreement. Compensation is granted by the courts, if the requesting spouse needs it to avoid being placed unreasonably financially.

196.Furthermore, the 2018 legislation provides a spouse who has helped preserve or increase the other spouse’s wealth the possibility to be awarded a compensation. This possibility applies for instance to female homemakers who have helped their husbands through working at home, taking care of the children or otherwise.

197.A cohabitating couple is free to make an agreement on dividing their assets when terminating their relationship, including payment of maintenance (alimony). If no agreement has been made the courts may grant one of the partners a compensation to avoid that the partner is placed unreasonably financially.

Sustainable Development Goals

Reply to paragraph 23

198.Denmark’s national action plan on the Sustainable Development Goals contains four cross-cutting priorities: Prosperity, People, Planet and Peace. Gender Equality play a role in three of these four priorities. The action plan includes targets on gender equality in the areas of education, labour market and development cooperation.

Greenland

199.No specific measures have been taken to integrate a gender perspective into efforts to achieve sustainable development goals.

Faroe Islands

200.The Government has posed a number of initiatives to improve the situation of especially single providers, who mainly are women, by improving the student grant, increasing affordable housing, granting specific grants for single parents and people with low income, as well as free day-care for people with no or low income.