Human trafficking in Denmark
Human trafficing in Denmark was, as of 2010, primarily a transit and destination country for women and children trafficked from Baltic countries, East and Central Europe, Nigeria, Thailand, and South America subjected, typically ending in forced prostitution. A 2009 report cited a male teenager from Nigeria rescued from the commercial sex trade in Denmark. During the period, the government did not report any cases of forced labor, though the Danish Anti-Trafficking Center highlighted that workers in domestic service, restaurants, hotels, factories, and agriculture, may have been vulnerable to forced labor in Denmark. Unconfirmed reports cited foreign children forced to engage in organized street crime. The government released a report in 2010 about increasing evidence that "au pair" organizations could be used as front companies for human trafficking. The hundreds of unaccompanied foreign minors who arrived in Denmark every year were particularly vulnerable to trafficking.
Prosecution
Denmark prohibits sex and labor trafficking through Section 262 of its criminal code. Punishments extend up to eight years' imprisonment, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Actual sentences for convicted traffickers ranged from 5 to 42 months' imprisonment. The Danish national police provided anti-trafficking training to all police precincts and recruits, however, the effectiveness of this training remained undetermined as of 2010.Protection
In addition to employing formal survivor identification procedures, the government conducted a proactive survivor identification outreach program, interviewing people in prostitution, as well as in prisons and asylum centers, in an attempt to identify and rescue trafficking survivors. They offered medical, dental, psychological, and legal services, and in certain cases a stipend, to trafficking survivors during a 100-day reflection period – a time to receive immediate care and assistance while they consider whether to assist law enforcement. No support is provided to adult or child foreign survivors of trafficking in Denmark beyond the reflection period if asylum or residency is not granted.The government has encouraged survivors to assist in investigations of their traffickers, including by offering support of trained counselors during police interviews; however, many survivors did not cooperate. Danish NGOs reported that one hundred days is often not enough time for survivors to develop sufficient trust in local authorities to disclose details of their trafficking experience. In addition, after the reflection period and trial process, survivors are most often deported to their country of origin, where authorities may not be able to provide protection. Trafficking survivors are eligible to apply for asylum as an alternative to their removal to countries in which they would face retribution or hardship. Police acknowledged factors preventing survivors' cooperation with police, including fear of reprisal from traffickers and the knowledge they were going back to their home country.
Prevention
While, as of 2010, no nationwide government-sponsored anti-trafficking awareness campaign focused on trafficking, the government campaigned to reduce demand for commercial sex acts, which may be linked to sex trafficking. The government had an anti-trafficking action plan, and produced annual status reports monitoring the previous year's developments related to the plan. The government forged anti-trafficking partnerships through its funding of anti-trafficking programs in Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. Danish authorities sustained partnerships with Scandinavian Airlines, the Association of Danish Travel Agents, and Save the Children to disseminate public service announcements against child sex tourism. Denmark established a hotline for trafficking survivors and one for information about suspected child sex tourism overseas. The government did not report any prosecutions of its citizens for child sex tourism during the reporting period. The Ministry of Defence provided training on human trafficking to all soldiers prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions.International response
The United States Department of State placed the country in "Tier 2" in their 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report. Denmark was back to Tier 1 in 2023.The 2021 GRETA report noted that between 2016 and 2019, 380 survivors were identified.
Denmark ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish [Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children | 2000 UN TIP Protocol] in September 2003.