Pornography in Denmark

{{Short description|none}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2022}} {{Expand Taraškievica|Парнаграфія ў Даніі|date=May 2023}} The first country in the world to legitimize [[pornography]] was [[Denmark]] in 1967. That year, the country legalized pornographic literature. In 1968, the campaigning feature film [[Det kære legetøj|Danish Blue]] advocated the complete legalization of pornography.<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Scandinavian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ae4QqlUDt9wC&pg=PA66|date=31 August 2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5524-3|pages=66–}}</ref><ref name="Bondebjerg2012">{{cite book|author=Ib Bondebjerg|title=Virkelighedsbilleder: den moderne danske dokumentarfilm|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rGR0iGbfA4EC&pg=PA195|year=2012|publisher=Samfundslitteratur|language=Danish|isbn=978-87-593-1629-0|pages=195–}}</ref> The film was banned in France but released in both England and the United States. It started a whole wave of documentary films about pornography in Denmark.<ref name="Schepelern">{{cite book|author=Peter Schepelern|title=Filmleksikon|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32ruU_YjxlwC&pg=PA41|publisher=Gyldendal A/S|language=Danish|isbn=978-87-02-04523-9|pages=41–}}</ref> Subsequently, on July 1, 1969,<ref name="TL-20190531">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Denmark legalized pornography 50 years ago. Did the decision turn out as expected? |url=https://www.thelocal.dk/20190531/denmark-legalized-pornography-50-years-ago-did-the-decision-turn-out-as-expected/ |date=May 31, 2019 |work=[[The Local]] |accessdate=August 22, 2021 }}</ref> Denmark became the first nation in the world to legalize [[Image|pictorial]] and [[audiovisual]] pornography,<ref name="IES-2004">{{cite news |last1=Francoeur |first1=Robert T. |last2=Noonan |first2=Raymond J. |title=Denmark in the International Encyclopedia of Sexuality |url=http://www.iub.edu/~kinsey/ccies/dk.php |date=2004 |work=[[International Encyclopedia of Sexuality]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113170352/http://www.iub.edu/~kinsey/ccies/dk.php |archivedate=January 13, 2011 |accessdate=August 22, 2021 }}</ref> which helped further promote the [[Golden Age of Porn]] (1969–1984) in modern American culture, and later, in many other countries throughout the world.<ref name="Book-2015">{{cite book|editor-link1=John DeLamater|editor-last1=DeLamater|editor-first1=John|editor-last2=Plante|editor-first2=Rebecca F. |title=Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0d3yCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA416 |page=416 |date=June 19, 2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319173412|access-date=August 21, 2021 }}</ref>

People in Denmark have had free access to such materials ever since. There still are a few regulations: for example, pornography must be placed out of the view of children, and may not be sold to persons under the age of 15. The public TV channel [[Kanal København]] broadcast [[hardcore pornography]] free and uncoded at night, in the early 2000s.{{cn|date=September 2017}}

Prior to 2015, there were no specific restrictions against [[animal pornography|zoophilic pornography]], and such affairs came under [[animal cruelty]] laws. If no harm or pain was inflicted on the animal, such acts were not illegal. This changed in late April 2015, when Denmark passed a new law, making sex with animals illegal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Flertal for lovændring: Nu bliver sex med dyr ulovligt|url=http://politik.tv2.dk/2015-04-21-flertal-for-lovaendring-nu-bliver-sex-med-dyr-ulovligt|website=TV2 Politik|publisher=TV2|accessdate=15 November 2015}}</ref> The earlier lack of legislation had allegedly made Denmark a center for the production of animal pornography.{{fact |date=September 2022}} This accusation, however, was dismissed as a [[urban legend|myth]] by Det Dyreetiske Råd, a legal council, which, in November 2006, published an extensive report on the topic of animal sex.<ref>[http://www.justitsministeriet.dk/nyt-og-presse/pressemeddelelser/2006/menneskers-seksuelle-omgang-med-dyr Udtalelse om menneskers seksuelle omgang med dyr] Det Dyreetiske Råd</ref>

Between 1969 and 1980, the [[Color Climax Corporation]] produced legal child pornography films.{{fact |date=September 2022}} Since 1980, [[child pornography]] has been illegal in Denmark.<ref>Section 234 of the ''Danish Criminal Code'' (1969), reads whoever 'sells indecent pictures or objects to a person under 16 yrs of age' is to be punished by a fine. Section 235 (1980) has a special provision concerning the reproduction and sale of child pornography, that is, sexually explicit photographs of persons who appear to be under 15 years (the taking of such pictures was always a criminal offence).</ref> It is illegal to distribute photographic or video pornography of persons under the age of 18, although the [[age of consent]] in Denmark is 15.{{fact |date=September 2022}}

==See also== *[[Nordic sexual morality debate]]

==Further reading== * [[Morten Thing]]: ''Pornografiens historie i Danmark'' (Aschehaug, 1999) * [[Berl Kutchinsky]]: ''Law, pornography, and crime: The Danish experience'' (Pax Forlag, 1999)

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pornography In Denmark}} [[Category:Pornography in Denmark| ]] [[Category:Society of Denmark]]