Denmark’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday, September 13th, unveiled a legislative package comprising 39 measures designed to reduce gang-related activities and hold families accountable, citing the mass influx of foreigners from alien cultures as the reason for needing to do so.
Speaking to the press about the new package, Frederiksen said that although severe punishment in Denmark was unnecessary in the past, times have changed and now the security situation is such that the state is obliged to enact tougher sanctions against those who commit violent crimes, and in some instances, their families, the Copenhagen-based daily Berlingske reports. At a press conference, Frederiksen said,
There was a time in Denmark when we didn’t need to punish very harshly because we didn’t have very much crime. That has changed, unfortunately. And it is linked to immigration policy.
The legislative package includes measures aimed at toughening penalties for offenders, diverting youths from being recruited into gangs, and providing police with additional tools to combat and prevent gang violence. Furthermore, it strengthens pre-existing measures related to weapon use, including the imposition of double sentences for gang members who use knives to settle conflicts and harsher penalties for knife possession.
There are significant problems with gang-related crime in Denmark. For the rest of us, gangs mean violence, shootings, murders, and stabbings in public places,” the prime minister said, adding that gangs have become increasingly bold and unafraid of the law, enlisting youngsters and using them to carry out criminal activity.
For this reason, Denmark must toughen punishment for gang-related crimes, she argued.
A significant proportion of the gangs are made up of young people from minority backgrounds. They are poorly integrated in Denmark. Many of them want a real parallel society with its own code of honor and rules,” Frederiksen continued.
They do not care about the number of victims. That is why you have to fight the gangs, otherwise, they will dictate the terms. This is undemocratic, unsafe, un-Danish, and wrong.
As a part of its new package, the Social Democrat-led government will also increase the severity of penalties for crimes involving “humiliation violence,” which includes emotional abuse designed to create a feeling of shame and worthlessness in the victim. Under the new laws, those found guilty of “humiliation violence”—along with their families—will have their child and youth benefits stripped.
Lastly, those involved in economic crimes will face more severe penalties, while expanded powers will be given to security forces, making it easier for them to use wiretaps and civilian agents in their law enforcement activities.
During her address, the prime minister also called on the migrant families to do more to prevent their children from falling into gang activity. “You must and should do more. In fact, you must do everything in your power to stop this spiral of violence. This is not why you came to Denmark in the first place,” she said, underscoring that families have every bit as much responsibility as the state to combat this problem.
