Day 15: Monday, June 22

Our second weekend in Copenhagen ended with a birthday bbq for Isa and Maja, as we sang the hilariously amusing Danish birthday song and enjoyed the beautiful weather. But with the weekend over, we hit the ground running hard early this Monday morning, delving into a wide variety of issues regarding sexual minorities in Denmark.

James McDowell, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent, and Julia Fendrick, a political officer at the US Embassy in Denmark, introduced us to the frightening world of human trafficking that affects more than a million people each year. Stressing that trafficking is a global issue that cannot be solved by one nation alone, Ms. Fendrick spoke about the annual Trafficking in Persons Report that provides not only the American government but also anyone who reads it with the necessary baseline to better know how to provide assistance to those NGOs and governments that are working to end and prevent human trafficking. Mr. McDowell focused his message on the enforcement side of trafficking, noting the philosophical differences between the Danish and American prison system and the immigration policies of both countries. It was quite obvious that the American politicians really wanted to influence the Danish government to make more flexible immigration and asylum policies for “saved” trafficking victims and to increase the prison sentence for those guilty of trafficking. The comedic highlight of this very intense discussion came, however, when one of the fellows asked Mr. McDowell why the United States was getting so involved in the European trafficking market. His response was brief and to the point and very amusingly “American”: “Because Congress signed a law about it, so we’re doing it!”

Slightly shifting gears a bit, we headed over to the prostitution shelter, Reden. Annette Rix, known as Rex to all of the shelter’s prostitutes, was an overwhelmingly and refreshingly honest and passionate speaker about prostitution, drugs, politics, and life in general. She has an incredible perspective on the women that she works with, admiring their toughness and determination to survive the hard life on the streets while understanding that prostitution is not a choice, but rather the absent of choice. Reden is a beacon of light for all the Danish prostitutes, acting as a safe-house and refuge from the dark, cold streets. Rix stressed to us all that Reden’s mission was not to re-socialize the prostitutes, but rather their goal was to give these women all of the necessary resources to be able to take that big step in their life away from prostitution. Reden provides food, shelter, a warm shower, a normal and relaxing environment, clean injection kits, condoms, lubricant, and even art classes every Monday night; they are the place that is open when the rest of Denmark is closed. One of the most incredible things about Reden is their unquestioned and unprejudiced acceptance of these women as just that: women. Reden, under Rix’s incredible leadership, is a place where prostitutes can come in and feel how they want to feel, being genuinely true and honest to themselves and what they want. While this visit raised even more questions about policy and human rights in regards to the vicious cycle of drug abuse and prostitution, Rix’s work inspired us all with an example of a truly passionate woman doing what she can to make a difference in another’s life.

After lunch at the Institute, we turned our attention to the gay and lesbian community in Denmark, discussing the history of the movement and the upcoming Outgames festivities that will be happening in July. Journalist Sune Prahl Knudsen and Sociologist Mads Ted Drud-Jensen explained the history of gay and lesbian rights in Denmark, noting that Denmark was the first country to recognize same-sex marriages. They also explained the growing trend in mainstream Danish society and politics to connect Danish intolerance and homophobia to the immigrant and minority communities in Denmark. This oversimplification has created a newfound interest in gay and lesbian rights among the right wing political parties, as many discussions on GLBT rights include discussions on immigrants in Denmark. One thing that Knudsen and Drud-Jensen and even our last speaker of the day, Michael Steensgaard, Director of World Outgames, all expressed is the false notion that many Danes have that Denmark is still the leader on gay and lesbian rights. As Steensgaard said, Denmark might have been the first country to take up gay and lesbian rights, but now it is twenty years behind other European countries in the implementation of those rights.

As this extremely long blog would suggest, this day was filled with topics and issues that need to and will be discussed in much greater depth in the future. While we covered everything from global human trafficking to gay and lesbian rights in Denmark, today gave us a look into the world of Danish sexual minorities and minority communities. Rix left us with a particularly powerful message that can be applied to all the issues we delve into with HIA: people do not have to agree with your opinion on prostitution, or anything for that matter, but they at least need to have an opinion: indifference to an issue is the worst opinion of all.

-Sarah & Soren