Crime Victims – Denmark

are interested in her statements as victim/witness – for instance against the perpetrators of trafficking in women, against persons who have brought her into the country or to whom she has had to give part of her earnings. But women who work as sex workers without the appropriate residence and work permits commit an offence themselves (for further information, see Sex Work and Prosecution). In this case, the woman is – as far as the police are concerned – both crime victim and accused.
She should therefore always seek advice before going to the police.
Confidential advice is offered by the hotline for migrant prostitutes and trafficked women, as a primary source of information. Personal counselling may also be offered by the hotline counsellors. The hotline phone number is (+45) 70 20 25 50.The advisory centre will not forward information regarding the woman, such as her name and address, to the police or aliens authorities. The advice is therefore always confidential.

If the woman decides to go to the police, she must be aware that she may have to give a statement not only to the police. She can, however, give a notice of revocation and can step back from testifying at any time throughout the legal proceedings. These proceedings may take a long time to come to a conclusion.

• when a woman is actively encouraged through false promises regarding work possibilities and earnings to come to Denmark, regardless of whether a job in another field was promised to her or whether she was willing to work in prostitution;
• when a prostitute’s identity papers or earnings are taken away from her;
• when a woman is forced into prostitution or into giving sexual services;
• when a prostitute is blackmailed, threatened, humiliated, beaten, raped or imprisoned.In the above instances, it is irrelevant whether the woman previously worked as a sex worker or whether she was willing to be a prostitute because/while she was misinformed about working conditions and earnings in an exploitative way.The name of the criminal offence in Danish Law is Trafficking in Human Beings (§262a Criminal Code) and was amended in 2002. It is in line with the terminology of the UN Protocol and the EU framework decision.

If a woman has become a victim of trafficking she can participate in an action plan run by the authorities. This offers a number of activities for victim protection.

The woman will be granted a residence permit for 15 days to get a reflection period about whether she wants to act as a witness in penal proceedings or not. During this time she can stay in a protected safe house and have medical, psychological, legal and other support.

The NGO running the safe house will offer to contact an NGO or other organisation in the woman’s country of origin, which can assist her upon her return, protect her against being re-trafficked and in being reintegrated into society, possibly through education and vocational training.

The woman may be granted residence toleration to enable her to think about whether she wishes to give evidence as a witness against the perpetrator(s) in court proceedings. This reflection period for victims of trafficking is 15 days. This period can be prolonged in extremely special circumstances, if the woman has been exposed to severe violence or abuse. During the reflection period the woman is expected, but not required to stay in the safe house. (There have not yet been any cases where a woman has stayed for the full 15 days.)

During the reflection period of 15 days the woman may stay legally in Denmark. After the 15 days she will be expelled and returned to her country of origin. If the woman decides to act as a witness she may be granted a longer stay if the police investigates the case and if the woman’s personal conditions in general call for it (This has not yet been exercised).

If the woman decides to give evidence in court as a witness against the perpetrator(s), she may in exceptional cases, which have not yet occurred, be granted a toleration until she gives evidence before court. If the woman decides to give evidence, she will be called to give her testimony in court in order that the evidence may be applied in later criminal proceedings in court.

Care for victims of trafficking is offered by the advisory centre and the safe house, rung by an NGO and paid by the state.

Before the commencement of court proceedings, the woman should decide – together with her lawyer – whether to give evidence as a witness or also to file for personal injuries and damages. The woman may file a claim for personal injuries and damages caused to her by the traffickers during the case, and the civil claim will thus be treated together with the criminal case.

The woman may be asked to give testimony in court immediately after her testimony to the police, in order to ensure her testimony as evidence for the court proceedings.
The woman’s statement is given either in the course of one day or of several days.
Occasionally the witness may also be asked to attend a second time later in the proceedings because new questions concerning her have arisen.

Questions are put to the witness by the public prosecutor, the defence and her own lawyer and if necessary the judge.

The witness must answer the questions truthfully and omit nothing; otherwise she risks criminal action against her on grounds of perjury / false testimony. She is allowed to remain silent about information which incriminates her or her closest family.

When giving evidence the woman may be accompanied by a lawyer (her counsel) upon request. The counsel makes sure that the witness’s rights are observed. The counsel will be paid by the state.

The witness is entitled to the services of an interpreter in her own language. If she feels unable to trust the interpreter, she can refuse / him on grounds of interest. The court then decides whether to provide another interpreter.

The hotline ((+45) 70 20 25 50) for trafficked and foreign women in prostitution may offer information about rights as a foreigner, as a victim of a crime and as a witness.

The woman may be accompanied and protected by the police during the entire proceedings, and particularly during her statement as witness.

On request from a witness before the court proceedings, the court can decide to close the proceedings, prohibit the mentioning of the name of the witness and decide that the accused shall leave the court room during the testimony of the witness. The court can also decide that the name, address and occupation of the witness may not come to the attention of the accused. The counsel will assist the witness in making this request to the court.

The public is excluded from proceedings if personal or intimate questions are to be put to the witness. In practice, this is always the case with sexual crimes.

In Denmark the state will pay travel costs for the woman’s homeward journey and for procuring documents. The woman may be restricted in re-entering Denmark for one year, if her visa and other relevant papers were not legally acceptable. In case of illegal re-entering she may be met with a claim to reimburse the costs for her homeward journey.

As part of the implementation of the Action Plan for the prevention of trafficking and protection of the victims, a co-operation between Danish NGOs and NGOs of countries of origin is being developed. In this context an embassy network is being developed and is intended to help the woman find contact to NGOs or programmes in her country of origin to assist her starting up in her own country, etc. This may be the case where the NGO which runs the support service does not have an adequate partner in the country which can assist in this process.

The phone number of the hotline for trafficked women and foreign women in prostitution is (+45) 70 20 25 50.