A growing trend is observed among victims of violence in Denmark: In 2023, 53 percent of those who believed they had been subjected to violence reported the incident to the police. This is the highest percentage since the beginning of the survey 19 years ago, according to data from the “Exposure to violence or other forms of crime” report, prepared in collaboration between the Ministry of Justice, the National Police (Rigspolitiet), and The Crime Prevention Council (Det Kriminalpræventive Råd). The survey, which includes responses from 13,698 randomly selected Danes, measures the population’s own experiences and may not necessarily align with the legal definition of crime. The results indicate that the proportion of the population who experienced violence last year is consistent with the previous decade. Specifically, 1.4 percent of respondents, equivalent to between 57,000 and 76,000 individuals aged 16 to 79 years, stated that they had been subjected to violence within the past year. Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard (Social Democrats) expresses great concern over the numbers and emphasizes that violence is a serious crime with devastating consequences for both individuals and society as a whole. “Violence is one of the most destructive crimes and pure poison for the coherence of our society,” says Hummelgaard in a press release, adding, “Therefore, we, from the government’s side, view it with great seriousness that tens of thousands of Danes continue to be exposed to violence every year. That is far too many – as a society, we should not accept it.” Following a recent assault on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats), the Minister of Justice announced the government’s intention to toughen penalties for violence. “It is crucial for both the individual victim and for society as a whole that the justice system responds with the necessary seriousness and swiftness to serious personal crimes,” says Hummelgaard in the press release.

Read the danish version here