In Denmark, prostitution among adults has not been criminalized neither as buyer nor seller of sex. It is, however, illegal to act as a pimp, making a profit of other peoples prostitution.
There have been many debates of the possibility of making prostitution illegal, however recently the discussion had an input from a Criminal Code Council deliberating on the appropriateness of the legislation on the area of sexual offences. After three years the Council produced a report on for instance the most expedient legislation on prostitution, rape and other areas concerning sexual offences.
Their conclusion, regarding the possible criminalization of prostitution, was that it would not improve conditions for prostitutes, and would even risk a deterioration of the conditions the prostitutes are working and living under.
Instead, the current government views prostitution as a social problem and therefore one to be tackled with social measures, and furthermore intend to intensify the efforts to find and punish those making a profit of procuring prostitutes. However, we see women trafficked for sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is a serious crime that Denmark wants to combat. Since the first action plan regarding trafficking in women from , a number of initiatives have been launched focusing on supporting the victims, preventing human trafficking in Denmark and internationally as well as prosecuting the traffickers.
In addition to efforts concerning victims in this country, the initiatives are secondly directed at:. The latest action plan was launched in and is valid until Of significant changes compared to former action plans can be mentioned: victims of trafficking are taken to a crisis shelter instead of prison.
