More women convicted of violent crimes in Denmark

Equal number of women and men were sent to prison for involuntary manslaughter in 2015

Lucie Rychla

For the first time ever, an equal number of men and women were convicted of involuntary manslaughter or bodily harm last year in Denmark, according to figures from Statistics Denmark.

In general, the number of women sentenced for committing some type of violent offence increased from 186 in 1980 to 1,106 in 2015.

Thirty years ago, men were 25 times more likely than women to be sent to prison for a violent crime, while in 2012, the ratio dropped down to eight to one.

READ MORE: Denmark’s killer nurse handed life sentence

According to Britta Kyvsgaard, the research director at the Justice Ministry, women are not only becoming more violent, but people are also more likely to report violence committed by women than in the past.

When comparing figures for assaults, the number of cases involving women increased from 171 in 1990 to 583 in 2015, while the number of cases involving men went up from 3,518 to 4,103 in the same period.

However, men are still more likely to commit murder.

In 2015, men were convicted in 34 murder cases, while only 5 women were sent to prison for a murder.

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