Danish study finds sex workers face disproportionate violence and assault

A new study by Vive, Denmark’s National Centre for Welfare Research and Analysis, shows that women selling sex experience significantly higher rates of violence, robbery, and sexual assault than other women in the country.

Researchers analysed registry data from 2,478 female sex workers between 2001 and 2022, finding that 16% had been recorded as victims of at least one police-reported violent incident—nearly three times the rate of two control groups. Four percent had reported rape, a figure up to eight times higher than among a random sample of women the same age.

Senior researcher Theresa Dyrvig Henriksen described violence as a routine part of many sex workers’ lives. “Many of these women live with violence in multiple aspects of their daily existence,” she said in a statement. “One woman we interviewed compared it to breathing—it’s just something that’s part of life.”

The study, which included interviews with 41 women, suggests the actual scale of violence may be even higher. Many incidents go unreported due to stigma, fear of retaliation from third parties, or concerns about self-incrimination or losing income.

“Sex work remains such a taboo that many don’t see reporting as a real option,” Henriksen said.

Funded by the state-run Victim Fund, which supports crime and traffic victims, the research follows Denmark’s 1999 decriminalisation of sex work for individuals over 18. However, profiting from another person’s prostitution—such as pimping—remains illegal.