Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Denmark.htm
Denmark is primarily
a transit and destination country for women and girls trafficked from
Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Brazil, Nigeria, and
other West African countries for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Victims from Africa are trafficked to Denmark primarily through
Italy and Spain. In 2008, authorities noted an increase in the number of
potential child trafficking victims from Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania,
Guinea, Hungary, Algeria, and China to Denmark for the purpose of forced
petty theft.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here or a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking for
material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of particular
interest to you. Would you like to
write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims Non-emergency police 33 14 88 88 Country code: 45- Email: politi@politi.dk Center mod Menneskehandel
(Center against Human Trafficking) ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Trafficking in
children in Denmark Red Barnet, Save the
Children redbarnetungdom.dk/Library/Annual_Reports/2003/The_debate/Trafficking_in_children.aspx [accessed 5
September 2014] Children are sold
to Denmark from impoverished countries to participate in crime, prostitution
or both. They come to Denmark from poor Eastern European countries such as Rumania and Albania. Their families cannot offer them a future. And one day, a stranger might come by, "I can give your child a better life in Western Europe." And the child goes along. The child is possibly sold to a ringleader, transported over borders under the cover of darkness. The offer of a better life turns out to be a life on the streets. Perhaps in Copenhagen. The children are schooled in crime. The path to prostitution can be short. And the road back home very, very long. ***
ARCHIVES *** Are Muslim Women
Trapped in Marriages in Denmark? Judith Bergman, Gatestone Institute, 4 March 2020 www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15559/muslim-women-denmark [accessed 4 March
2020] "It is a big
problem and many men hold the women hostage in marriages they do not want.
They won't accept a divorce from a Danish court -- only from a religious
one", he said. "I know women who have tried in vain for ten years
to find an imam that will accept their divorce... 80-90 % of the imams will
not recognize that a divorce from a Danish court is also valid... And at the
same time, the women's husbands and families tell them that they are not
divorced until they have the imams' approval." — Imam Mostafa Chendid, Kristeligt Dagblad, January 16, 2020. One interviewed
woman, identified as Khulud, an immigrant from
Iraq, described how her husband refused to divorce her: "I was on the phone
with him and he began to threaten me. He told me: 'I can make you regret the
day you got to know me. I am willing to use all means to make your life
bitter and unbearable'... But the [imams] just keep telling me, 'we cannot
give a woman a divorce, who has made her Nikah [Islamic marriage contract] in Iraq...' I have
tried to kill myself several times – I am just so tired." 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Denmark U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/denmark/
[accessed 4 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF
FORCED OR COMPULSORY LABOR Authorities
identified 17 victims of forced labor in 2019 making up one-quarter of the
overall number of trafficking victims. Men and women working in agriculture,
cleaning, construction, factories, hospitality, restaurant, and trucking were
most likely to face conditions of forced labor. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT The law prohibits
all of the worst forms of child labor, and the government effectively
enforced the law. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/denmark/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 23 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Public- and private-sector
workers are generally free from exploitation by employers. However, migrants
engaged in forced labor can be found in some sectors, including the
agricultural and service industries. Women and children, also primarily
migrants, can be found engaged in forced sex work. The government and NGOs
work, frequently in conjunction, to identify and prevent human trafficking
and to provide aid to survivors. Putting a stop to
human trafficking - The government has
implemented a four-year plan to battle human trafficking with a focus on
women and children The At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] Human trafficking
is a growing problem in many Western European countries, and Denmark will now
attempt to gain control of the situation through a four-year, DKK 70 million (EUR
9.4 million) plan to battle the crime. The national police
indicate that half of the estimated 5,000 prostitutes in the country are
foreigners forced into the lurid business, and the new plan aims to make
closer contact with the exploited persons by better coordinating the 'street
teams' that have already been set up to visit and help the groups. In addition to the DKK 70 million, portions
of Denmark's foreign aid going to developing countries will also be used to
combat human trafficking from the points of origin. MINISTER TO TACKLE
HUMAN TRAFFICKING ( The
[accessed
1 February 2011] 25/10/2006
- A new initiative from the Ministry for Social Affairs and Gender Equality
hopes to make inroads into the underworld of human trafficking by offering
confidential health checks to the illegal workers. The minister for
social affairs, Eva Kjer Hansen, plans to intensify
scrutiny of areas where slave labour may exist, particularly prostitution. As
part of this initiative, fully discreet health care clinics where illegal
workers can receive treatment will be established nationwide. Besides the obvious
health risks involved in prostitution, another major concern has been the
problem of what happens to those women when they are expelled from Denmark One in 12 children
forced into world's 'worst forms' of labor: UNICEF UK Agence France-Presse, www.worldrevolution.org/news/article1773.htm [accessed 20 April
2012] [accessed 27 April
2020] UNICEF UK lauded
the pledge of developed countries, made more than 30 years ago, of allocating
0.7 percent of gross domestic product to development aid but regretted that
only five countries today fulfill that promise -- Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden. One in Twelve of
the World's Children Are Forced into Child Labor UNICEF UK, 18
February 2005 [accessed 31 January
2019] A new report
launched today by UNICEF UK exposes the global exploitation of children as
workers, highlighting how one in twelve of the world's children (180 million
young people below 18) are involved in the worst forms of child labour – hazardous work, slavery, forced labour, in armed forces, commercial sexual exploitation
and illicit activities. 97% of these are in developing countries. A Report on Child
Trafficking
- Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy, Romania, Spain, United
Kingdom
[PDF] European Network
Against Child Trafficking ENACT, Marc h 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] [page 42] 7.3 TRAFFICKING PRACTICES - AVAILABLE DATA - There is very
limited knowledge about the number of minors that are trafficked to Denmark.
It is definitely certain that there are foreign minors in the prostitution
milieu in Denmark, though not in large numbers, and that criminal networks
largely control this milieu. NGOs and police do not doubt that they see minors
in the streets, but there are no counter-trafficking agencies in Denmark able
to provide a general estimate of the number of children who are victims of
trafficking in Denmark. The increased monitoring has not yet led to concrete
data about the dimensions of the problem in general or in relation to minors. There is knowledge
of the problems related to trafficking in minors in the individual police
jurisdictions and among NGOs that are working on the issue of prostitution.
There are roughly 2000 foreign prostitutes in Denmark.15 About 10% of
prostitution (both Danish and foreign) is purchased on the streets. Danish
NGOs working with street prostitution do meet very young foreign prostitutes
who appear to be minors. Yet, they do not remain in the street milieus for a
long time, as they are in high demand. Customers quickly gather them up.
Local police always stop the prostitutes who appear to be minors, but they
are usually in possession of a tourist visa and money, as well as officially
stamped identification that can be purchased in the countries of origin. In the Danish media
there have been reports of at least four concrete cases of foreign girls
having been sold to prostitution in Denmark. Furthermore, recent research
carried out by Save the Children Denmark16 reports four other concrete cases
of children trafficked to Denmark for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
This research also includes mention to a single group of twenty foreign
children: in this case there is a substantial evidence indicating that they
are victims of trafficking for the purpose of economic crime (i.e. theft). Study Finds Demand
Is a Factor Driving Human Trafficking, January 6, 2004 Niurka Pineiro,
International Organization for Migration IOM, Press Briefing Notes, 06
January 2004 www.usembassy.it/file2004_01/alia/a4010606.htm [accessed 1 February
2011] Research announced
by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) January 6 says that
demands of the marketplace are a factor in causing human trafficking. Conducted
by two British researchers in selected nations of Europe and Asia, the study
suggests that the unregulated labor conditions of sex workers and domestic
workers, and the abundant supply of such workers are factors behind the
exploitation of migrants. The research was
carried out through interviews with employers of domestic workers in Sweden,
Thailand, India and Italy (and subsequently with expatriate employers in Hong
Kong and Thailand), and with clients of sex workers in Denmark, Thailand, India and Italy. The study also includes
interviews with non-employers and non-clients. Women trafficking
plan comes under fire - Just 25 women to
date have taken part in a government-sponsored plan to fight sex-trade
trafficking. Politicians are pressing Social Affairs Minister Eva Kjer Hansen for answers The At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4
September 2011] In the year since
the government launched its much-touted initiative to fight
international trafficking of women for the sex trade, 25 women have accepted
an offer of protection at the Reden women's shelter
before being deported back to their home countries. Just one woman has accepted an offer for
help from a humanitarian organisation in her home
country. The government plan was aimed at helping women victimised
by sex trade trafficking in their home countries, to prevent them from
falling back into an abject life of prostitution. Social Affairs Minister Eva Kjer Hansen admits that things are not going well
enough. "The figures aren't very
impressive. Trafficking in
Children to Denmark - New report published by Save the Children Denmark Child Centre for
Children at Risk in the Baltic Sea Region, 20.01.2004 – [full report, next] www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/denmark/dbaFile11025.html [accessed 1 February
2011] www.childrenatrisk.eu/blog/trafficking-in-children-to-denmark-new-report-published-by-save-the-children-denmark/ [accessed 23 January
2018] Very little is known about trafficking in children to Denmark. This is primarily owing to the fact that trafficking is a clandestine endeavour - particularly when children are involved - and minors are often equipped with false papers indicating they are more than 18 years of age. The victims rarely come to the attention of the authorities; it is therefore impossible to completely document the extent of the problem. [see report, next] Is trafficking in
human beings demand driven?: a multi-country pilot study Bridget Anderson and
Julia O’Connell Davidson, Save the Children Sweden, ISBN:91-7321-069-2, 2003 [Long URL]
[accessed 17
February 2022] INTRODUCTION - Part I of this
report sets out to review current debates and existing research on “the
demand side of trafficking”. Trafficking in
Children to Save the Children
Denmark, December 2003 www.childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/denmark/dbaFile11026.pdf [accessed 1 February
2011] childcentre.info/projects/traffickin/denmark/dbaFile11026.pdf [accessed 23 January
2018] [page 3] SUMMARY - Save the Children has uncovered two
primary areas in which trade with children to Denmark is taking place. The
first area includes the group of children trafficked to Denmark for the
purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Interviews conducted with organisations and individuals in Denmark and abroad led
to the discovery of three incidents of foreign children subject to sexual
exploitation in Denmark. In the course of the study, a further case was dealt
with in the Swedish courts involving an under-aged Polish girl who was abused
in Sweden and Denmark. Save the Children
Denmark wanted to interview the aforementioned victims of trafficking;
however, via contact with adults with
close relations to three of the victims we were informed that the children
were not prepared to participate in such an interview. They do not wish to
relive their traumatic experiences via conversations with Save the Children
Denmark. The other area Save
the Children Denmark was able to identify was a group of children trafficked
to Denmark for the purpose of criminal exploitation, where the proceeds from
shoplifting, pickpocketing etc. is often entirely or partially delivered to
e.g. a ringleader residing in Denmark.
Since the spring of 2003, the Danish police and the Social 24-hours
Services of Copenhagen (den Sociale Døgnvagt) have thus observed a disconcerting development.
According to the Social 24-hours Services, there have been at least 20 such
cases in the period from spring to December 2003. Furthermore, it is important to keep in
mind that a combination of these two areas, prostitution and crime, can also
occur; the children in these milieus lead vulnerable existences on the edge
of society where the distance from petty crime to prostitution is not great. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2001 UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 8 June 2001 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/denmark2001.html [accessed 1 February
2011] [32] While the
Committee notes that financial and special assistance programs for single
parents have been established, including at the municipal level, it remains
concerned about the vulnerability of children belonging to single-parent
families. Concern is also expressed about the situation of children belonging
to ethnic minority families. The Protection
Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/denmark.doc [Last accessed 2009] FORMS OF TRAFFICKING
-
Women are trafficked to A recent study undertaken
by Save the Children Denmark uncovered two primary purposes for which
children are trafficked to Denmark: for commercial sexual exploitation and
for criminal exploitation, such as pickpocketing and shoplifting. At least 20
cases of this second form were detected from spring to December 2003. In that year, police observed that an
increasing number of boys, primarily from Romania, were being trafficked for
criminal exploitation. Many appeared to belong to the Roma minority. A combination of trafficking for both
purposes can also occur. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** 2017 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 20 April 2018 www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2017/eur/277159.htm
[accessed 21 March
2019] www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/denmark/ [accessed 25 June
2019] PROHIBITION OF FORCED
OR COMPULSORY LABOR The law prohibits
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and the
government effectively enforced this prohibition. The law prescribes
penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for violations, which was generally
sufficient to deter violations. The most recent (2016) statistics of the
Danish Center for Human Trafficking identified five victims of forced labor,
two for (commercial) forced labor, and three who were trafficked to the
country to commit crimes, such as drug sales and organized theft. The
government also trained tax inspectors and trade union officials to identify
forced labor. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61645.htm [accessed 8 February
2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– The country was both a destination and a transit point for women and
children who were trafficked from the former Soviet Union, Traffickers lured
victims with the prospect of higher wages and a better life, then forced them
into prostitution, often withholding their passports. Authorities suspected
traffickers had ties to organized crime, specifically in Russia and the
Baltic countries, and subjected them to police investigations and
prosecutions. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
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