LIU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 65: Den danske besvarelse af CEDAW-komitéens list of issues om Danmarks efterlevelse af FN's Kvindekonvention (CEDAW), fra ministeren for fødevarer, fiskeri og ligestilling

Ligestillingsudvalget 2019-20
LIU Alm.del Bilag 65
Offentligt

United Nations

Convention on the Elimination

of All Forms of Discrimination

against Women

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination

against Women

Seventy-sixth session

22 June-20 July 2020

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under

article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination against Women

List of issues in relation to the ninth periodic report of

Denmark: Replies of Denmark

General context

Information and statistics on the current situation of women in the State

party is included in Annex 1.

The Minister for Equal Opportunities presents an annual gender equality action plan to the

Parliament. The 2020 action plan contains 55 initiatives spanning 12 Ministries. It contains

among others initiatives promoting equal pay, women in management and board positions,

more equal sharing of parental leave, gender mainstreaming in the public sector and

initiatives combatting violence against women including domestic violence and sexual

harassment at work as well as trafficking in human beings.

The national action plan to combat psychological and physical violence in close

relationships covering the period 2019–2022 is briefly described in para 77 of the 9th report.

The

action

plan

available

English

here:

https://mfvm.dk/publikationer/publikation/pub/hent-fil/publication/action-plan-for-the-

prevention-of-psychological-and-physical-violence-in-intimate-relationships-2019/

Greenland:

Currently, the plan has not been extended. Most of the issues in the plan are now

incorporated in other social programs.

The former action plan was an overall strategy that focused on violence in broad terms.

However, several of the initiatives were targeted domestic violence and other close relations.

New programs have been launched including Alliaq, whichtargets perpetrators of violence in

close relationships.

The action plan as well as Alliaq has been initiated with the aim of reducing the scale of

violence against women in close relationships. The individual initiatives and offerings target

both genders. Besides, it is relevant to note that Greenland has a large public sector that

always focus on combatting violence and support victims.

Legislative, policy and institutional framework

The Government reiterates its firm commitment to ensuring the

compliance of Danish law with the Convention. In this respect, the Government wishes to

LIU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 65: Den danske besvarelse af CEDAW-komitéens list of issues om Danmarks efterlevelse af FN's Kvindekonvention (CEDAW), fra ministeren for fødevarer, fiskeri og ligestilling

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

underline that the choice of non-incorporation merely reflects a choice between different

means to ensuring such compliance (reference is made to the common core document, paras.

130-134). The question of incorporation has been thoroughly considered and there are

currently no plans of incorporating the Convention into Danish law.

Faroe Islands:

Faroese legislation contains no impediment to gender equality. Faroese legislation does not

distinguish between women and men; it guarantees the same rights for all citizens of the

Faroe Islands without any positive rights to either gender. As such, women and men have the

same rights and the same responsibilities in all areas of society.

Traditionally, and still to a certain degree today, the Faroese society is quite traditional,

being a fishery nation with a large number of men working away from home for long periods,

many women have the main responsibility of the home and the family economy. This might

also reflect the large number of women working in part-time jobs; more than 50% of the

women in the Faroe Islands work part time. This again has an effect on the wage income;

women earn less than 40% of the total wages in the Faroes

–

even though the participation

of women in the workforce is one of the largest in the world, with 83% of women being

active on the labour market.

Since 1994, a Gender Equality Act has been in force, which principal purpose is to

eliminate all forms of gender-based discrimination (CEDAW/C/DNK/9, para. 276).

In august 2019, a Gender Equality Office was established. Its main focus is to put Gender

Equality on the agenda in all areas of society and raise awareness about gender and equality,

as well as increase the number of women in decision-making positions.

Greenland:

No measures other than those set out in Inatsisartutlov no. 3 of 29th November 2013 on

equality between men and women have been taken.

The law aims to promote equality between women and men and applies to the extent that

equivalent or better rights do not follow from a collective agreement.

The law stipulates that public authorities must implement gender equality and incorporate

equality into the planning and management of their area where relevant. Public committees,

councils, commissions and the like, set up by Naalakkersuisut to prepare rules or planning of

social importance, must be composed so that at most one member has more of one gender

than the other.

Since 2000, it has been stipulated in section 4 of the Act on Gender

Equality that “Public authorities shall within their respective areas of responsibility

seek to

promote gender equality and incorporate gender equality in all planning and administration”.

There has been no legislative changes as to this obligation to promote gender equality.

The 2019 amendment of the Act on Gender Equality concerned the reporting mechanism,

changing the frequency of gender equality reports from two to three years to simplify the

procedure and make it more useful by emphasizing follow-up and dissemination of good

practices between reporting cycles. It is still too early to assess the impact of the amendment.

The Danish Government does not consider gender neutral legislation and policies to

impede the fulfilment of Denmark's obligations under the Convention.

According to the Danish Legislative Guidelines all proposals must pass a three-strep

gender equality assessment. Firstly, it is considered whether an equality assessment is

relevant. The target demographic for the proposal is identified, and it is considered if one

gender is overrepresented or if substantial differences between genders exist within the target

demographic. Secondly, if the proposal has equality consequences, a closer assessment is

made of the possible gender differences and the extent of the direct and indirect consequences

of the proposal. Thirdly, it is evaluated whether potential differences between genders have

significant equality consequences and if the proposal should be adjusted because of potential

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

equality consequences. If the proposal carries significant equality consequences, it should be

stated explicitly in the the explanatory memorandum for the proposal.

Denmark has had a Minister for Equal Opportunities since 1999. The minister’s portfolio

is embedded in the Act on Gender Equality and the ministry has a separate and specific

budget line. Different ministers have had different portfolios containing other policy areas

than gender equality. These have interalia included housing, social affairs, immigration,

climate, education. The portfolio does not determine the attention given to promoting

women’s rights and gender equality

nor the budget.

Faroe Islands:

No gender mainstreaming strategy plan has been implemented; however, in the legislative

process the governmental circular on drafting legislation refers specifically to international

conventions including CEDAW to ensure that the legislation is not in conflict with existing

instruments, which also increases the awareness of the convention. Moreover, a course on

gender mainstreaming is offered to the administration of the Faroese Government.

Greenland:

When it comes to legal regulations - ie. inatsisartutlove, government notices, circulars,

guides and municipal statutes which are based on law, must seek to use gender-neutral terms.

Access to justice and legal complaint mechanisms

The Government is not in possession of a complete list of all court

judgments delivered by the courts in Denmark. Within the judgments from ordinary courts

published in official law journals, the Government is not aware of judgments delivered since

the last CEDAW reporting cycle in which the Convention has been explicitly invoked. Thus,

when bringing e.g. discrimination cases to the ordinary courts, women seem to rely

principally on the national legislation that implement or correspond to the rights enshrined in

the Convention.

However, the Convention and Convention jurisprudence is regularly invoked and

considered in cases before the Refugee Appeals Board (for a description of the Board, see

the common core document, paras. 111-115). Recently, in a decision of 10 January 2019

(case no. 17/183875), the Board

–

in its assessment of the general conditions for women in

Somalia

–

explicitly took into account the views adopted by the Committee on the

Elimination of Discrimination against Women in communication no. 70/2014.

The general interpretational rules used by Danish courts and other law-applying authorities

ensure that the application of Danish law is in accordance with the international conventions

that Denmark has acceded to. Reference is made to the common core document, para. 132.

Thus, the absence of an explicit reference to the Convention does not mean that the courts

have not considered the rights enshrined in the Convention.

The Secretariat of the Board of Equal Treatment has provided information regarding

complaints regarding discrimination on the grounds of sex before the Board, which have been

settled between 2015-19. Complaints may also concern male complainants.

From 2017 onwards, the basis of the complaint is registered if the complaint regards

discrimination in connection with job advertisement, hiring, dismissal or harassment. A

complaint can be registered with several of these keywords and can thus count in several

categories. Other types of complaint are not registered. The outcome of the complaint is

registered while the amount of compensation is not.

Table XX. Complaints before the Board of Equal Treatment

2015

2016

2017

No. of complaints

Successful

Unsuccessful

115

118

2018

2019

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

Rejected

Outside the labour

market

Within the labour

market

Complaints

regarding:

- job advertisement

- hiring

- dismissals

- harassment

N/A

* 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.).

Several campaigns and initiatives raising awareness and targeting

stereotypes have been launched since 2015, for example;

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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

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.

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.

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.

The Greenlandic Police and the Faroe Islands Police do not have a unified data collection

mechanism as described.

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.

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.

Para. 7.3 and 8 d include descriptions of selected initiatives to improve the treatment of

victims by public authorities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The provision on psychological violence and its implementation have also been discussed

in various management fora within the Prosecutions Service.

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.

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.

(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.

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.

(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

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

9. 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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

10.

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).

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Nationali

Amou

Claim

60.000

DKK

Amou

award

18.000

DKK

Form of

exploitati

Compensati

Status

2017

Fem

ale

Bulgaria

Prostitutio

Tort

compensatio

2018

Fem

ale

Thailand

60.000

DKK

50.000

DKK

Prostitutio

n, threats.

Tort

compensatio

The

application

is still

under

considerati

on by the

Board

regarding

permanent

injuries.

The case is

closed

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.

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.

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.

It should be noted that a prosecution raised in one year may be settled in another year. The

figures are broken down as follows

The estimates are based on figures from the Police Case Management Program POLSAS, which may contain inaccuracies.

The table contains only prosecutions and convictions/acquittals in human trafficking cases (code 74135), where one or more women are registered as

victims in a case complex, which includes a human trafficking case. This case complex does not necessarily only include cases of human trafficking.

Victims in a case can be registered, for example, on the main incident (in Danish “hovedforholdet”) in a case complex, and therefore

these will not be

registered directly in the human trafficking case. Incidents and convictions/acquittals in the cases are calculated by number of individuals per case

complex, which results in how many individuals per year which have been prosecuted and convicted/acquitted per case complex. It also should be

noted that data for this answer are not included in the Director of Public Prosecutions standard model for data management information. Specially

developed models are always tested, but there is still a greater risk of unidentified errors than when using the Attorney General's standard model.

Thus, the data in the table is associated with considerable uncertainty.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

2015

Proscutions

Convictions

Acquittals

2016

2017

2018

2019

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.

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.

11.

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.

See Denmark’s ninth

periodic report, para 67-72.

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.

See Denmark’s ninth

periodic report, para 67-72.

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

12.

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).

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).

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.

Data updated on January 11, 2020.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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%.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

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

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

Education

13.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

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.

14.

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.

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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

system.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

15.

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.

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

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

16.

(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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

(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.

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.

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.

(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:

Statistics Greenland forms a basic register containing income and tax information for all

persons fully taxable in Greenland and links this to 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:

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.

17.

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.

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.

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.

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

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

18.

(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.

The

Directive’s date of implementation

is 2 August 2022.

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:

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:

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

to the shared parental leave.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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:

(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.

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

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

These reportscontain 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.

It is possible to disaggregate the survey data on gender, but it is not possible to derive all

the requested information from the report.

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.

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.

The agreement focuses on all persons with disabilities and does not include measures

specifically aimed at increasing employment among women with disabilities.

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.

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.

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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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

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.

The WEA has written new guidelines on the employer's duty to prevent negative acts,

including bullying and sexual harassment.

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.

On the WEA website, companies and individuals have easy access to relevant information

concerning negative acts, including bullying and sexual harassment.

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.

In 2019, the hotline received 380 calls.

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.

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.

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

19.

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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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:

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:

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.

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.

The Government in the Faroe Islands (as of September 2019) has no plans to amend the

legislation regulating abortion.

HIV/AIDS

20.

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

Age

00-14

years

15-25

years

26-64

years

65+ years

Unknown

TOTAL

Place of birth

Denmark

Total

Foreign country

109

485

633

263

1098

1447

372

1583

2080

Source:

Statens Serum Institut

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:

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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

21.

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.

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:

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

response.

Marriage and family relations

22.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9

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.

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.

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.

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

23.

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:

No specific measures have been taken to integrate a gender perspective into efforts to

achieve sustainable development goals.

Faroe Islands:

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.