Human rights in Denmark

Denmark has a long tradition of supporting and addressing human rights. Over time, various governments have focused on areas such as freedom of expression and religion, eliminating racism, children’s rights, torture, and more recently, corporate social responsibility (CSR).

In 1987, the Danish Parliament created the Danish Centre for Human Rights, which was renamed in 2002 as the Danish Institute for Human Rights (Danish: Institut for Menneskerettigheder). The Institute is Denmark's NHRI (National Human Rights Institute), and as such has counterpart NHRIs in other countries.

As a member of the United Nations, Denmark has been a party to the adoption of a number of human rights treaties such as those to abolish torture or to strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities.

Denmark has also been a party to the adoption of a number of European documents on human rights, two of the most important being the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and the creation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or ECHR) in Strasbourg.

Under EU auspices, Denmark endorses the human rights initiatives of the European Parliament. This means that a number of measures and bodies exist in Denmark to protect civil rights.