Girl faces fine for protecting herself against sexual assault

Pepper-spraying a man who tried to pull down her trousers may cost 17-year-old girl dearly

A 17-year-old girl in Sønderborg has found herself in violation of the arms act for using pepper spray on an English-speaking man who tried to pull down her trousers.

The girl notified police in southern Jutland police that she had been sexually assaulted across the street from the Sønderborg cultural and community centre, the Sønderborghus.

She said that an English-speaking man unbuttoned her trousers and tried to get them off.

The girl then pulled out a pepper spray and frightened off her assailant.

Guilty of self-protection
Now the girl is facing charges for defending herself.

“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will probably be charged,” local police head Knud Kirsten told TV SYD.

The girl’s report to the police comes in the wake of several incidents in Sønderborg, in which some asylum-seekers from the local asylum centre have found it difficult to behave properly towards women while out on the town.

It is unknown whether the man who allegedly violated the 17-year-old girl is an asylum-seeker.





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.