78th virtual session of CEDAW Committee

cc: Peter.Riis@ft.dk
marie.hansen@ft.dk
Office of the
Secretary General
Mr. Henrik Dam Kristensen
President of the Danish Parliament
Danish Inter-Parliamentary Group
International Department
Folketinget - Christiansborg
DK-1240 - COPENHAGEN K
Denmark
Geneva, 22 April 2022
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to you regarding your country’s latest periodic report on measures taken
to give effect to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW). This report was considered during the seventy-eighth
virtual session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women (Geneva, 15 to 25 February 2021).
The Committee has published its concluding observations, which you will find
enclosed and on the CEDAW website. In those observations, the Committee stresses
the crucial role of parliaments in implementing the Convention, and invites your
Parliament to take the necessary steps to facilitate the implementation of the
concluding observations between now and the next reporting period under the
Convention.
I wish to draw your attention to the subjects on which the Committee will require a
progress report within two years. First, in paragraph 11(a), the Committee
recommends consolidating the Danish social model in all parts of the country, as well
as using it as a catalyst to redress long-standing inequalities between women and
men in the context of COVID-19 and placing women and girls at the centre of recovery
strategies. Second, in paragraph 15(b), the Committee calls for the adoption of a
comprehensive definition of discrimination against women, including direct and indirect
discrimination in the public and private spheres as well as intersecting forms of
discrimination. Third, in paragraph 21(a), the Committee recommends that the State
define consent in the new criminal provision on rape, strengthen awareness-raising
and education on the new definition of rape specifically targeting young people, and
introduce the consent-based definition of rape in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Finally, in paragraph 35(b), the Committee recommends collecting comprehensive
data on the causes of the high prevalence of suicide, including among girls.
I am sure you will take steps to make the Committee’s concluding observations
available to members of your Parliament and to hold a debate to ensure adequate
parliamentary follow-up. In recent years, the IPU has supported several parliaments in
organizing such follow-up, including parliamentary debates with input from members
of the CEDAW Committee. We would be pleased to extend similar support to your
Parliament should you so wish.
I would be grateful if you could notify me of any follow-up action you take on this
matter. I will certainly keep the CEDAW Committee and the IPU membership informed
of such developments.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Chungong
Secretary General
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United Nations CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9
Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
Distr.: General
9 March 2021
Original: English
21-03218 (E) 170321
*2103218*
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women
Concluding observations on the ninth periodic report
of Denmark*
1. The Committee considered the ninth periodic report of Denmark
(CEDAW/C/DNK/9) at its 1797th, 1798th and 1799th meetings (see
CEDAW/C/SR.1797, CEDAW/C/SR.1798 and CEDAW/C/SR.1799), held online
from 22 to 24 February 2021. The list of issues and questions raised by the
pre-sessional working group is contained in CEDAW/C/DNK/Q/9, and the responses
of Denmark are contained in CEDAW/C/DNK/RQ/9.
A. Introduction
2. The Committee appreciates the submission by the State party of its ninth
periodic report, as well as its follow-up report to the previous concluding observations
of the Committee (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8/Add.1). The Committee also welcomes the
oral presentations by the delegations of Denmark and of the territories of Greenland
and the Faroe Islands, and the further clarifications provided in response to the
questions posed orally by the Committee during the dialogue.
3. The Committee commends the State party for having agreed, on an exceptional
basis in the light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and post-crisis
reconstruction, in order to avoid a gap in the protection of women’s rights in the State
party, to participate in an online dialogue with the Committee remotely from
Copenhagen, Nuuk and Tórshavn. The Committee also commends the State party on
its multisectoral delegation, which was headed by Mette Kaae Hansen, Department
for Gender Equality, Ministry of Employment of Denmark, and included
representatives of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Employment,
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Social Affairs and Senior Citizens, Ministry of
Immigration and Integration, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Children and Education,
Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the
Interior and Housing, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Industry, Business and
Financial Affairs and Ministry of Finance; of the Office of the Premier, the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Gender Equality, the Ministry of Social
Affairs, Family and Justice and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Church of
Greenland; of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Culture, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance
* Adopted by the Committee at its seventy-eighth session (15 to 25 February and 4 March 2021).
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and the Ministry of Environment, Industry and Trade of the Faroe Islands; and of the
Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations Office and other international
organizations in Geneva.
B. Positive aspects
4. The Committee welcomes the leadership and commitment of the State party in
the advancement of the women and peace and security agenda of the Security Council,
including its efforts to promote all dimensions of the agenda, as reflected in Council
resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106
(2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019). The Committee also
notes with appreciation that the State party is among the highest-ranked countries in
terms of gender equality.
5. The Committee welcomes the progress achieved since the consideration in 2015
of the State party’s previous report in undertaking legislative reforms, in particular
the following measures:
(a) Adoption of Law No. 2208 (2020), which entered into force on 1 January
2021 and which amends the definition of rape set forth in section 216, paragraph 1,
of the Criminal Code so that it is based on lack of consent, in 2020, and adoption of
Law No. 635/2016, which increases the criminal penalty for rape, in 2016;
(b) Inclusion in the Criminal Code of a specific provision on psychological
violence in close relationships, in 2019 (see CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 18 (c));
(c) Adoption of a legislative ban on hymen construction surgery, in 2019;
(d) Adoption of a new law on matrimonial property that, in principle, divides
all assets upon divorce equally between the spouses and provides for the awarding of
compensation to a spouse who has helped to preserve or increase the other spouse’s
wealth, in 2018 (Law No. 548/2018);
(e) Adoption of amendments to criminal law provisions related to preventing
and combating gender-based violence against women, including domestic violence,
which, inter alia, increased the maximum penalty for repeated domestic violence
offences and for aggravated violence, in 2018 (Law No. 358 (2018) and Law No. 718
(2018));
(f) Adoption of Law No. 688 (2018) on the prohibition of discrimination on
the grounds of disability, in 2018;
(g) Adoption of new legislation relating to online harassment and to
harassment in the workplace, in 2017 (Law No. 977 (2017));
(h) Adoption of amendments to the Restraining Order Law introducing
temporary restraining orders with immediate effect, in 2016 (Law No. 1724 (2016)),
and introduction of equivalent regulations in Greenland and the Faroe Islands in 2017.
6. The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to improve its institutional
and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against
women and promoting gender equality, such as the adoption or establishment of the
following:
(a) Annual gender equality action plan for 2021, on 25 February 2021;
(b) Maternity equalization scheme for maternity, paternity and parental leave
for self-employed persons, aimed at promoting women’s entrepreneurship, introduced
in Denmark in 2014 (see CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 6 (b)), and extensions of the
period of maternity leave during pregnancy from two to four weeks and of the shared
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parental leave quota from 17 to 21 weeks, which both came into effect in Greenland
on 1 January 2021;
(c) “Sig Frá!” action plan against violence in the Faroe Islands, in 2021;
(d) Action plan for the prevention of psychological and physical violence in
intimate relationships (2019–2022);
(e) Action plan against trafficking (2019–2021);
(f) Office for the promotion of gender equality in the Faroe Islands, in 2019;
(g) First action plan of Denmark to promote the safety, well-being and equal
opportunities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, in 2018.
7. The Committee welcomes the fact that, in the period since the consideration of
the previous report, the State party has ratified, acceded to or declared the
applicability to the self-governing territories of the following international treaties:
(a) Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
(No. 111), of the International Labour Organization (ILO), on 27 August 2019, and
the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), of ILO, on 10 December 2018,
for Greenland;
(b) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a
communications procedure, on 7 October 2015;
(c) Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), of ILO,
on 14 June 2017.
C. Sustainable Development Goals
8. The Committee welcomes the international support for the Sustainable
Development Goals and calls for the realization of de jure (legal) and de facto
(substantive) gender equality, in accordance with the provisions of the
Convention, throughout the process of implementing the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. The Committee recalls the importance of Goal 5 and
of the mainstreaming of the principles of equality and non-discrimination
throughout all 17 Goals. It urges the State party to recognize women as the
driving force of the sustainable development of the State party and to adopt
relevant policies and strategies to that effect.
D. Parliament
9. The Committee stresses the crucial role of the legislative power in ensuring
the full implementation of the Convention (see A/65/38, part two, annex VI). It
invites the Folketing of Denmark, the Inatsisartut of Greenland and the Løgting
of the Faroe Islands, in line with their mandates, to take the necessary steps
regarding the implementation of the present concluding observations between
now and the submission of the next periodic report under the Convention.
E. Principal areas of concern and recommendations
General context
10. The Committee commends the State party for upholding its advanced social
model, characterized by social redistribution, high unemployment benefits and a large
public sector, while, at the same time, maintaining a competitive economy,
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dependable welfare and low unemployment and poverty rates, which the Committee
also considers to be a strong basis for gender-responsive COVID-19 response and
recovery strategies, including under the NextGenerationEU recovery plan. However,
the Committee is concerned about the prevalence of gender-based violence against
women, including domestic violence, and the feminization of poverty, which
disproportionately affects women and girls belonging to disadvantaged and
marginalized groups, who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination,
throughout the territory of the State party.
11. In line with its guidance note on the obligations of States parties to the
Convention in the context of COVID-19, issued on 22 April 2020, the Committee
recommends that the State party:
(a) Consolidate the Danish social model throughout the State party as a
driving force for sustainable change, and use it as a catalyst for implementing
measures, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to redress long-standing
inequalities between women and men by placing women and girls at the centre
of recovery strategies, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda, paying particular
attention to unemployed women and women living in poverty, women belonging
to ethnic or national minorities, indigenous women, older women, women with
disabilities, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women, and lesbian, bisexual
and transgender women and intersex persons;
(b) Take action to ensure that, in the context of restrictions on freedom of
movement, sanitary measures and post-crisis recovery plans, women and girls
are not relegated to discriminatory, stereotypical gender roles;
(c) Review its strategies to ensure that all COVID-19 crisis response and
recovery efforts, including the State party’s emergency measures are aimed at
effectively preventing gender-based violence against women and girls; guarantee
the equal participation of women and girls in political and public life and in
decision-making in the context of recovery efforts, as well as economic
empowerment and service delivery; and are designed so that women and girls
benefit equally from stimulus packages, including financial support for unpaid
care roles, that are aimed at mitigating the socioeconomic impact of the
pandemic;
(d) Ensure that measures taken to contain the pandemic do not limit the
access of women and girls, including those belonging to disadvantaged and
marginalized groups, to justice, protection from gender-based violence,
education, employment and health care, including sexual and reproductive
health services;
(e) Ensure a central and strategic role for the principles of equality and
non-discrimination in the allocation of funds under the NextGenerationEU
recovery plan.
Visibility of the Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto and the Committee’s
general recommendations
12. The Committee welcomes the fact that its previous concluding observations
were translated into Danish and disseminated to all relevant ministries by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, with clear indications of responsibilities for the follow-up and
implementation of the Convention and the Committee’s recommendations. The
Committee also welcomes the fact that the Convention and the Optional Protocol
thereto have been published online in Danish, and that the Convention and the
Committee’s jurisprudence are regularly invoked and considered in cases before the
Refugee Appeals Board. The Committee nevertheless notes with concern the lack of
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court cases in which the Convention has been invoked, as well as the general lack of
awareness of the Convention and the Committee’s jurisprudence under the Optional
Protocol among government officials and women themselves in the State party, in
particular in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which may prevent them from claiming
their rights under the Convention and from availing themselves of the
communications or inquiry procedure under the Optional Protocol.
13. Recalling its previous recommendation (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 10),
the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Disseminate and give more publicity to the Convention, the Optional
Protocol thereto and the Committee’s concluding observations and general
recommendations, as well as its recommendations on individual communications
and inquiries under the Optional Protocol;
(b) Consider establishing a comprehensive implementation mechanism
for the present concluding observations, with the participation of the
Governments of Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, while respecting
the autonomy of the self-governing territories and the principle of subsidiarity,
and involve in this mechanism the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the
Human Rights Council of Greenland and a body equivalent to the Human Rights
Council of Greenland in the Faroe Islands, as well as non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) that promote women’s rights and gender equality, taking
into account the four key capacities of a national reporting and follow-up
mechanism: engagement, coordination, consultation and information
management;1
(c) Raise awareness among women of their rights under the Convention
and of the legal remedies available to them to claim those rights, including in
Greenland and the Faroe Islands;
(d) Strengthen relevant capacity-building programmes for judges,
prosecutors, police officers and other law enforcement officials, as well as
lawyers.
Legislative framework, legal status of the Convention and harmonization of laws
14. The Committee welcomes the fact that gender impact assessments of 120 draft
laws have been carried out since 2013. The Committee notes the explanation provided
by the State party that there are currently no plans to incorporate the Convention into
its national legal order and that it does not consider gender-neutral legislation and
policies to be impediments to the fulfilment of its obligations under the Convention.
However, reiterating its previous concerns (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, paras. 11 and 38),
the Committee notes with concern:
(a) The lack of incorporation of the Convention into national law, which may
have adverse effects on women and girls throughout the State party, including in
Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and may prevent the State party from adopting
temporary special measures in accordance with article 4 (1) of the Convention and
the Committee’s general recommendation No. 25 (2004) on the subject, aimed at
accelerating the achievement of substantive equality of women and men, as Danish
courts may consider such measures discriminatory;
(b) The lack of a comprehensive definition of discrimination against women,
including direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private spheres and
intersecting forms of discrimination;
__________________
1
See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR_PUB_16_1_NMRF_PracticalGuide.pdf.
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(c) The increased use of gender-neutral language in the State party’s
legislation, policies and programmes, which makes an evaluation of the situation of
women, including women belonging to disadvantaged and marginalized groups,
difficult and may lead to inadequate protection of women from direct and indirect
discrimination, as well as impede the achievement of substantive equality of women
and men. In this regard, the Committee recalls its general recommendation No. 28
(2010) on the core obligations of States parties under article 2 of the Convention
(paras. 5 and 16).
15. Reiterating its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, paras. 12
and 40), the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Review its decision not to incorporate the Convention into its national
legal order;
(b) Accelerate the harmonization of legislation, while respecting the
autonomy of the self-governing territories and the principle of subsidiarity, and
adopt a comprehensive definition of discrimination against women, including
direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private spheres and
intersecting forms of discrimination, and ensure its consistent application
throughout the territory of the State party;
(c) Include gender-sensitive rather than gender-neutral language in its
legislation, policies and programmes, in accordance with the Committee’s
general recommendation No. 28, and comprehensively assess the gender-neutral
approach in legislation and policymaking, with an emphasis on the potential
adverse effects of gender-neutral policies on public funding programmes for
women.
National machinery for the advancement of women
16. The Committee welcomes the fact that the Danish Institute for Human Rights
was designated as the national equality body, in accordance with directives of the
European Union on the equal treatment of all persons without discrimination on the
grounds of gender, race or ethnic origin, and that it functions as the national human
rights institution of Denmark and of Greenland. The Committee also welcomes the
close cooperation of the Institute with the Human Rights Council of Greenland, a
politically independent council established by law in November 2018, in accordance
with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and
protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). The Committee, however, notes with
concern:
(a) The lack of a long-term strategy and action plan on promoting women’s
rights and gender equality;
(b) The 2019 amendment to the Law on Gender Equality, which changed the
frequency of gender equality reporting from two to three years at the municipal level,
a development that may have a negative impact on gender mainstreaming;
(c) The lack of an overall integrated strategy for gender mainstreaming;
(d) The fact that the mandate of the Danish Institute for Human Rights does
not cover the Faroe Islands and that there is no body equivalent to the Human Rights
Council of Greenland in the Faroe Islands;
(e) The fact that the Human Rights Council of Greenland, whose members
work on a pro bono basis, lacks sufficient human, technical and financial resources
to effectively carry out its mandate.
17. The Committee recommends that the State party:
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(a) Adopt a long-term strategy and action plan designed to promote
gender parity in the public and private spheres by 2030, in addition to the annual
gender equality action plans;
(b) Revise the national strategy for future gender mainstreaming
assessment work in the public sector of 2013 and introduce an integrated
approach to gender mainstreaming to achieve equality between women and men,
as well as effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms, including by
continuing to systematically conduct gender impact assessments of legislation,
ensuring that implementation is evaluated on the basis of compliance with
relevant targets and indicators and disaggregated data collection, including with
regard to women and girls with disabilities;
(c) Carry out a comprehensive study to evaluate the impact of the
legislative amendment that changed the frequency of gender equality reporting
at the municipal level from two to three years, and take remedial action, if
necessary;
(d) Adopt a gender mainstreaming strategy to achieve equality between
women and men, extend the mandate of the Danish Institute for Human Rights
to cover the Faroe Islands and establish, in the Faroe Islands, a body equivalent
to the Human Rights Council of Greenland, with sufficient human, technical and
financial resources to effectively carry out its mandate to promote and protect
women’s rights;
(e) Provide the Human Rights Council of Greenland with sufficient
human, technical and financial resources to effectively carry out its mandate to
promote and protect women’s rights, in cooperation with the Danish Institute for
Human Rights.
Temporary special measures
18. The Committee notes the statement by the delegation of the State party that
progress made in ensuring gender balance in the boards of directors of private
companies has been insufficient and that it plans to extend the application of gender
equality legislation to management positions. The Committee is nevertheless
concerned that women are absent from the boards of directors of more than half of
the 2,200 largest private Danish companies, that the formula for calculating women’s
representation in executive boards was amended in 2016 such that a board with two
women and five men would be considered to reflect equal gender representation and
that the State party, including the parliament, is reluctant to adopt temporary special
measures as a means of advancing the achievement of substantive equality of women
and men in all areas covered by the Convention and at all levels where women are
underrepresented or disadvantaged, in particular in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
19. Reiterating its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 16),
the Committee recommends that the State party make use of temporary special
measures, in accordance with article 4 (1) of the Convention and the Committee’s
general recommendation No. 25, and provide incentives such as gender
scorecards, strengthen targeted recruitment and establish time-bound goals and
quotas in all areas covered by the Convention and at all levels where women are
underrepresented or disadvantaged in both the public and private sectors,
including private companies, in order to significantly increase the number of
women who are members of boards of directors and the number of women in
management positions. The Committee also recommends that the State party
implement temporary special measures to accelerate the achievement of de facto
equality for women belonging to disadvantaged groups, such as migrant women,
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older women, women with disabilities, indigenous women, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender women and refugee and asylum-seeking women.
Gender-based violence against women
20. The Committee commends the State party for placing lack of free consent at the
centre of its new definition of rape, adopting a specific provision on psychological
violence and abuse, establishing a hotline for victims of sexual violence and new
shelters for women who are victims of gender-based violence, including domestic and
sexual violence, and strengthening the free psychosocial counselling and assistance
provided to victims, including by increasing funds for NGOs that provide ambulatory
counselling services. The Committee appreciates the consideration by the State party
of new forms of gender-based violence against women, particularly in the online
sphere, and the priority action taken to prevent such violence being inflicted to young
women. The Committee notes the explanation given by the State party that, despite
the use of gender-neutral language, its action plans to combat gender-based violence
take into account the fact that women are disproportionately affected by such
violence. The Committee nevertheless notes with concern:
(a) That the concept of consent is not defined in the context of the new
definition of rape, that awareness-raising and education with regard to the new
definition are reportedly insufficient and that the new definition applies neither in
Greenland nor in the Faroe Islands;
(b) That referring to gender-based violence against women as “violence in
close relationships”, including in the context of the new criminal provision on
psychological violence in section 243 of the Criminal Code, may result in a lack of
gender-disaggregated data on violence and obscure the fact that women are
overwhelmingly the victims of such violence, in addition to resulting in a lack of
appropriate action to address these challenges;
(c) The increase of gender-based violence against women and girls, including
domestic violence, in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of
places in shelters available for women victims in the State party;
(d) The high incidence of sexual violence against women with disabilities, in
particular intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;
(e) The reported high prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace and
the education system, despite the numerous initiatives of the State party to combat
this phenomenon;
(f) The high level of gender-based violence against women and girls,
including sexual and domestic violence, in Greenland, and the fact that the
Greenlandic Strategy and Action Plan against Violence (2014–2017) has not been
renewed;
(g) The overall lack of disaggregated data on gender-based violence against
women and girls in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, in particular with regard to
women belonging to ethnic or national minorities, women with disabilities and
migrant women;
(h) That the State party declared, upon ratification of the Council of Europe
Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence (Istanbul Convention), that that instrument does not apply to Greenland and
the Faroe Islands.
21. Reiterating its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 18),
and recalling its general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence
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against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, the Committee
recommends that the State party:
(a) Define consent in the new criminal provision on rape, strengthen
awareness-raising and education with regard to the new definition of rape,
specifically targeting young women and men, and introduce the consent-based
definition of rape in Greenland and the Faroe Islands;
(b) Strengthen its legislative and policy framework on domestic violence,
with a special focus on women who are victims of violence throughout the
territory of the State party and avoiding the use of gender-neutral terms, in
accordance with the Istanbul Convention, and ensure the application of the new
section 243 in the Criminal Code on psychological violence and abuse to cases in
which women, in particular women belonging to certain ethnic and religious
groups, are retained in marriages against their will, while at the same time
specifically criminalizing such retention, as well as religious marriages of girls
and boys;
(c) Provide sufficient numbers of shelters, which must be accessible, for
women who are victims of gender-based violence, taking into account their
specific needs, including the need to avoid their relocation in the event that
designated shelters are fully occupied;
(d) Take urgent measures to address the high rate of sexual violence
against women with disabilities, in particular intellectual or psychosocial
disabilities;
(e) Ensure that victims of sexual harassment in the workplace and the
education system have access to effective remedies, take steps to provide for the
liability of employers for sexual harassment in the workplace if they have taken
insufficient measures to prevent such harassment, encourage employers to
regularly review their company culture and accelerate the establishment of a
whistle-blower hotline for reporting unlawful behaviour, including sexual
harassment;
(f) Evaluate the Greenlandic Strategy and Action Plan against Violence
(2014–2017) and adopt a new strategy and action plan to combat gender-based
violence, including sexual and domestic violence, against women and girls,
including women and girls with disabilities, linking it to the prevention of
suicide, substance abuse and the action plan on parental neglect, with clear goals
and mechanisms for prevention, monitoring and follow-up, and continue to
implement measures under the Alliaq programme, which targets perpetrators of
domestic violence, and under the expired strategy;
(g) Ensure the collection and analysis of data, disaggregated by sex, age,
nationality and disability, on gender-based violence against women and girls in
Greenland and the Faroe Islands;
(h) Extend the application of the Istanbul Convention to Greenland and
the Faroe Islands.
Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution
22. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the State party to prevent and
combat trafficking in persons, in particular women and girls, including by engaging
in international cooperation and awareness-raising initiatives and also by awarding
compensation to victims of trafficking, including those trafficked for the purposes of
exploitation of prostitution, through its Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. The
Committee is nevertheless concerned at:
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(a) The lack of comprehensive information and comprehensible data about
women and girls recognized as victims of trafficking, particularly in Greenland and
the Faroe Islands;
(b) The low number of criminal investigations and prosecutions in relation to
reported cases of trafficking, which may stem in part from the fact that women victims
of trafficking who are undocumented or in an otherwise irregular situation are at risk
of deportation, which discourages them from seeking victim assistance services;
(c) The fact that traffickers increasingly target victims through the Internet;
(d) The limited and insufficient human, technical and financial resources
available to the anti-trafficking unit within the Department of Violent Crimes of the
Copenhagen Police as some of the resources have been reallocated to combat other
forms of serious crimes. In that connection the Committee takes note of the State
party’s plan to establish a new national investigation unit.
23. Recalling its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 20)
and its general recommendation No. 38 (2020) on trafficking in women and girls
in the context of global migration, the Committee recommends that the State
party:
(a) Continue to raise awareness about trafficking in persons, in particular
women and girls, and systematically collect comprehensive information and
relevant statistical data about victims of trafficking, disaggregated by sex, age,
nationality, employment and economic status, in particular in Greenland and the
Faroe Islands, and report them to the Committee in its next periodic report;
(b) Adopt a human rights-based approach in its efforts to combat
trafficking, emphasizing the status of women as victims of trafficking rather than
criminalizing them; prioritize the prevention of trafficking and retrafficking,
protection of victims and prosecution of perpetrators; and revise immigration
policies to ensure that laws and policies on the deportation of migrant women
are not applied in a discriminatory manner, do not deter migrants, refugees and
asylum seekers from reporting crimes of trafficking and do not undermine
efforts to prevent trafficking in persons, identify or protect victims, or prosecute
perpetrators;
(c) Raise awareness, including at school and among families, about the
risks of trafficking, including the recruitment of victims through the Internet;
(d) Reassign the necessary human, technical and financial resources to the
anti-trafficking unit within the Department of Violent Crimes of the Copenhagen
Police to enable it to carry out its mandate to detect and investigate crimes of
trafficking in persons effectively.
24. The Committee notes that the State party considers prostitution a social problem
and notes also the existence of exit programmes for women who wish to leave
prostitution in the largest municipalities, funded in the amount of 55 million Danish
kroner for the period 2020–2023, and the provision of additional public funding for
programmes operated by NGOs with a view to preventing new forms of sexual
exploitation, such as prostitution-like relationships between young people. The
Committee is, however, concerned at the lack of comprehensive information and
disaggregated data on women and girls who are exploited in prostitution, including
in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
25. The Committee recommends that the State party collect and analyse data
on women and girls who are exploited in prostitution, in particular
non-nationals, including in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and conduct
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research on the living conditions of women in prostitution, and report on the data
and results of the study in the next periodic report.
Participation in political and public life
26. The Committee welcomes the fact that 39 per cent of the members of the
parliament, the Danish Prime Minister, 7 of the 14 Danish members of the European
Parliament, 39 per cent of the members of the Inatsisartut (the parliament of
Greenland), three out of five mayors in Greenland, the Head of the Greenland
Representation in Copenhagen and 46.6 per cent of the members of executive boards
of public companies in Greenland are women. The Committee, however, notes with
concern that:
(a) Only 7 out of 20 ministers and 13 per cent of mayors in Denmark are
women, and that women’s political representation is stagnating; that only three out of
nine members of the Naalakkersuisut (the Government of Greenland) are women, and
that not all political parties in the Faroe Islands followed the recommendation of
Demokratia, an independent committee established to encourage more women to
participate in political life, to include an equal number of women and men in their
electoral lists for parliamentary and municipal council elections;
(b) Sexism and misogyny in public and political life are causing women to
refrain from participating in political and public life, including in public online
debates, and that the perpetrator in a case involving multiple counts of sexual
harassment reported by women politicians and political party members was sentenced
to 60 days in prison in January 2021.
27. Reiterating its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 24),
and recalling its general recommendation No. 23 (1997) on women in political
and public life, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Adopt an action plan, including temporary special measures such as
statutory quotas or incentives to encourage political parties to include an equal
number of women and men in their electoral lists, especially at the municipal
level, and in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, to accelerate women’s equal
representation in political and public life and to strengthen gender equality and
inclusion in governance, with the goal of achieving gender parity by 2030;
(b) Adopt strategies and programmes to prevent violence that women
experience online and offline in public debate; put in place effective law
enforcement measures to hold social media companies liable for unlawful user-
generated content, and strengthen preventive measures against sexual
harassment in Greenland, including by requiring all political parties to develop
policies to promote gender equality and combat sexual harassment.
Nationality
28. The Committee welcomes the measures, including legislative amendments,
taken by the State party to prevent and reduce statelessness, including of women and
girls. It is, however, concerned that:
(a) Children, including girls, born stateless in the State party, must apply for
citizenship before reaching adulthood;
(b) Women and girls who are second-generation and third-generation migrants
have limited avenues for acquiring Danish citizenship.
29. Reiterating its previous recommendation (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 26),
and recalling its general recommendation No. 32 (2014) on the gender-related
CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9
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dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women, the
Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that, by law, children born in Denmark, including girls, are
automatically granted Danish citizenship if they would otherwise be stateless;
(b) Streamline procedures for the acquisition of Danish citizenship for
women and girls who are second-generation and third-generation migrants.
Education
30. The Committee welcomes the efforts of the State party to eliminate
discrimination against women and gender-based stereotyping in the education system
and the progress achieved thus far, including by providing substantial public funding
to the Inge Lehmann talent programme and the Girls’ Day in Science campaign,
among other such initiatives; conducting campaigns aimed at raising awareness
among young people, including girls and young women, of online harassment and
digital literacy; and educating migrant, refugee and ethnic minority women and
schoolgirls about women’s rights and gender equality. It also welcomes the fact that
girls and women are excelling in upper secondary and tertiary education in Greenland.
The Committee is, however, concerned about:
(a) Persisting gender segregation in education at all levels and the low number
of women and girls choosing non-traditional fields of study and career paths;
(b) The low number of women in high-level academic posts;
(c) The lack of systematic training on sexual and reproductive health and
rights for teachers at the upper secondary school level;
(d) The comparatively low number of children, including girls, with
disabilities completing school and vocational or university education, their higher-
than-average dropout rates owing to insufficient efforts to improve their inclusion and
the overall lack of relevant data, disaggregated by sex and type of disability.
31. Reiterating its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, paras. 28
and 32), and recalling its general recommendation No. 36 (2017) on the right of
girls and women to education, the Committee recommends that the State party
raise awareness of the importance of girls’ education at all levels as a basis for
their empowerment, and:
(a) Continue to promote the participation of women and girls in
non-traditional fields of study and career paths, in particular in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics and in information and
communications technology;
(b) Consider introducing temporary special measures, such as a
mandatory statutory quota, to ensure the equal representation of women and
men in high-level academic posts;
(c) Swiftly conclude the process of updating teaching guidelines to ensure
that gender-sensitive, age-appropriate and accessible education on sexual and
reproductive health is included in school curricula to foster responsible sexual
behaviour with a view to preventing early pregnancies and sexually transmitted
infections, including by providing teachers at all levels of the education system
and throughout the territory of the State party with systematic training on sexual
and reproductive health and rights;
(d) Strengthen its measures to improve the inclusion of girls with
disabilities in the mainstream education system and include in its next periodic
report information and statistical data, disaggregated by sex and type of
CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9
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disability, on school attendance, dropout rates and access to vocational and
university education for children with disabilities.
Employment
32. The Committee welcomes the entry into force of the maternity equalization
scheme for self-employed persons and the extension of maternity leave periods and
shared parental leave quotas in Greenland, the fact that women participate on an
almost equal footing with men in the labour market in Denmark and that the
participation of women in the labour market is at 83 per cent in the Faroe Islands, and
the results achieved with programmes and policies to integrate migrant women into
the labour market and society as a whole. The Committee is, however, concerned at:
(a) The stagnation of the adjusted gender wage gap in a vertically and
horizontally segregated labour market and academia; the lack of transparency of the
methodology for the determination of what constitutes “work of equal value” owing
to the lack of a legal definition; the limits on access to relevant data that would enable
women to examine whether their right to equal pay for work of equal value has been
violated; and the fact that only companies with at least 35 employees, of which at
least 10 are women and 10 are men, must submit gender equality reports, including
on their wage statistics;
(b) The fact that mothers take more parental leave than fathers, and women,
on average, perform one hour more of housework per day than men;
(c) The risk of algorithm-driven gender-based discrimination in advertising
and hiring practices in the labour market, in particular against women belonging to
disadvantaged and marginalized groups;
(d) The persistently low participation of migrant women in the labour market
and the lack of data on the participation of women with disabilities in the labour
market, which was reported to stand at 50.2 per cent in 2016, according to the most
recent data available, based on surveys that are cross-checked with public health
system and social services registers.
33. Recalling its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, paras. 30
and 51), the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) In order to narrow and eventually close the gender wage gap, revise
the Equal Pay Law by defining the concept of “equal work of equal value” in
conformity with the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), of ILO;
ensure that women employees and their union representatives have full access to
wage information and statistics enabling women to examine whether their right
to equal pay for equal work of equal value has been violated; and improve gender
wage gap statistics by ensuring that more employers and companies are subject
to reporting obligations;
(b) Implement measures to ensure the equal participation of both parents
in family responsibilities, including with regard to shared parental leave quotas;
(c) Implement measures to prevent gender-based discrimination in the
design of algorithms under the 2019 national strategy for artificial intelligence;
(d) Collect comprehensive data on the participation of migrant women
and of women with disabilities in the labour market and provide such
information in the next periodic report;
(e) Ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), of ILO.
CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9
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Health
34. The Committee welcomes the frequent use of e-medicine, benefiting women and
girls, especially during the pandemic, and legislation and the 2020 action plan on
mental health providing for free psychological counselling, including for women and
girls, in the Faroe Islands. It notes the sharp decline in premature births during the
pandemic. The Committee is nevertheless concerned about:
(a) The State party’s reportedly having the highest incidence rates of all types
of cancer combined in Europe, and a very low percentage of women with disabilities,
in particular in special needs residences, taking part in free national cervical or breast
cancer screening;
(b) The high prevalence of suicide and suicide attempts, including among
girls, in Greenland;
(c) The high abortion rate and the high prevalence of sexually transmitted
infections among women and girls in Greenland;
(d) The possibility of criminalization of women in the Faroe Islands seeking
abortion and not enjoying the same access to sexual and reproductive health services,
including to safe abortion and post-abortion services, as women in Denmark and
Greenland, causing some women in the Faroe Islands to travel to Denmark for an
abortion or to purport to be severely mentally ill so as to be unable to care for a child.
35. Recalling its previous recommendations (CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8, para. 32),
the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Continue to collect and analyse information and data on the causes of
the high incidence of cancer in women and report on them in the next periodic
report, and set specific targets to increase the participation of women with
disabilities in free national cancer screening;
(b) Collect comprehensive data on the causes of the high prevalence of
suicide, including among girls, in Greenland and report thereon, including on
measures taken to address them, in its next periodic report;
(c) Collect comprehensive data on the causes of the high abortion rate in
Greenland; ensure that education on sexual and reproductive health and rights
at all levels of education is gender-sensitive, age-appropriate, accessible and
fosters responsible sexual behaviour, with a view to preventing early pregnancies and
sexually transmitted infections; ensure access for all girls and young women to sexual
and reproductive health services and to modern contraceptives, in particular in rural
areas; and provide appropriate health-care services to women in Greenland
during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period and to their children;
(d) Remove punitive measures for women seeking abortion and consider
amending the abortion law in the Faroe Islands, which dates back to 1956, and
passing an abortion law that provides equal access to safe and legal abortion and
post-abortion services for women in the Faroe Islands, as in Denmark and
Greenland, especially in cases of complications resulting from unsafe abortions.
Economic empowerment of women
36. The Committee commends the State party for its efforts undertaken to increase
the number of women entrepreneurs, including in most innovative sectors such as
artificial intelligence and other technologically advanced fields, and for its
international cooperation programmes. The Committee takes note of the existing rules
and regulations governing exploration and mining operations. It notes with concern,
however, that:
CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/9
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21-03218
(a) The disparity between men and women in the digital economy and
artificial intelligence impedes the empowerment of women and constitutes a new
source of structural discrimination;
(b) The continuing and expanding extraction of carbon and mineral resources,
as well as the large infrastructure projects in Greenland, may displace women from
their lands and deprive them of their livelihoods;
(c) Only 5 per cent of farmland is owned by women.
37. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Ensure that the 2019 national strategy for artificial intelligence
ensures gender equality between women and men in the digital economy and
prevents discrimination for the benefit of women and sustainable change;
(b) Review its energy and mining policies, especially its policy on the
extraction of carbon and mineral resources in Greenland, to ensure that they do
not disproportionately affect women adversely, and ensure the participation of
women, on an equal basis with men, in decision-making processes regarding such
policies, including in environmental and social impact assessments;
(c) Review practices that may impede land ownership by rural women
and adopt legislation to protect their right to own land.
Climate change and disaster risk reduction
38. The Committee commends the State party on the measures taken to address the
climate crisis. It is, however, concerned about the lack of data and research on the
gender-specific impact of the climate crisis potentially affecting the indigenous
population, including women, in Greenland.
39. Recalling its general recommendation No. 37 (2018) on the gender-related
dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change, the
Committee recommends that the State party provide the necessary resources to
the Danish Institute for Human Rights to finalize its examination of the State
party’s international human rights obligations to prevent the negative impact of
climate change; that the State party conduct a study on the gender-specific impact
of climate change on women in Greenland, in particular women dependent on
traditional Inuit livelihoods; and that the State party report on the results of the
study in its next periodic report. It also recommends that the State party take
measures to ensure the participation of women, on an equal basis with men, in
decision-making processes related to the climate crisis and consider participating
in the Adaptation Fund, established under the Kyoto Protocol to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including through financial
contributions, with the aim of mainstreaming gender in climate finance.
Marriage and family relations
40. The Committee welcomes recent amendments to the legislation on the formation
and dissolution of marriage prohibiting child marriage. It is, however, concerned that:
(a) Recent legislative amendments require women with temporary protection
status to wait for three years for family reunification, unless exceptional
circumstances are present;
(b) Women with residence status obtained on the basis of a family
reunification procedure may – based on an individual assessment – lose this status
upon divorce.
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41. Recalling its general recommendation No. 32 and general recommendation
No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict
situations, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Reverse legislative and administrative barriers to family reunification
for women who are beneficiaries of international protection;
(b) Apply the legal provisions concerning residence status on the basis of
family reunification to all migrant and refugee women regardless of marital status.
Dissemination
42. The Committee requests the State party to ensure the timely dissemination
of the present concluding observations, in the official language of the State party,
to the relevant State institutions at all levels (national, regional and local), in
particular to the Government, the Folketing of Denmark, the Inatsisartut of
Greenland and the Løgting of the Faroe Islands, and the judiciary, in Denmark
and in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, to enable their full implementation.
Ratification of other treaties
43. The Committee notes that the adherence of the State party to the nine major
international human rights instruments2
would enhance the enjoyment by
women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms in all aspects of life.
The Committee therefore encourages the State party to ratify the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of Their Families, to which it is not yet a party. It also recommends that the State
party extend the territorial application of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure, acceded
to on 7 October 2015, to Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Follow-up to the concluding observations
44. The Committee requests the State party to provide, within two years,
written information on the steps taken to implement the recommendations
contained in paras. 11 (a), 15 (b), 21 (a) and 35 (b) above.
Preparation of the next report
45. The Committee requests the State party to submit its tenth periodic report,
which is due in 2025. The report should be submitted on time and cover the entire
period up to the time of its submission.
46. The Committee requests the State party to follow the harmonized
guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including
guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents
(HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6, chap. I).
__________________
2
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.


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