[Dash of SAS] Danner Crisis Center

Ana P. Santos

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[Dash of SAS] Danner Crisis Center
From starting out as a home for young maids and servant girls, the Danner Crisis Center now extends its shelter and protection to vulnerable women of various races and nationalities

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Louise Rasmussen probably never thought of herself as a feminist.

The word had yet to be coined and the concept never imagined in 1815 when Rasmussen was born as the illegitimate daughter of a poor servant girl and a merchant.

Rasmussen would grow up to be the woman Frederick, the Crown Prince of Denmark, fell in love with, but to everyone else, she was a commoner with a child from a former lover. In the eyes of others, she was nothing more than a mistress.

Defying scorn and disdain, they were married in what is cited in history books as a “mismatch,” an unequal marriage between a man of royalty and a lowborn woman.

The story of Rasmussen’s ascent in society and the controversial love story that propelled it is the fairy dust sprinkled in legends and romance novels. But unlike other stories that started with derision, this did not end on a note of accomplished vindication.

Rasmussen never wanted to forget her impoverished beginnings; she wanted to help other women lift themselves from theirs. Rasmussen turned her fairytale into a legacy of welcoming the hundreds of women that would come after her into her home.

Danner House

With the fortune Frederick left her, Rasmussen built Danner (pronounced dan-nah) house in central Copenhagen, a shelter for women who worked as maids, the only job available to women at the time. In her last will and testament, Rasmussen specified that the Danner house be used for destitute women and girls.

It is easy to imagine the massive brick building as a home for young women beginning to learn the hardship and the delicious indulgences of being independent and earning their own keep. 

The manor house has heard the giggles and whispers of these young women and witnessed the strong friendships they formed as they supported each other in a world that had to decide that women could have a place in it. 

More than 100 years later, when Danner was going to be taken down, women rallied to save it and occupied the building – standing in the way of its demolition. Women raised money to buy it and when rightful ownership was theirs, they raised money to renovate it.

Danner remained open to house another generation of women. When the women’s movement started, the walls of Danner offered women and lesbian groups a safe place to meet and plan.

HISTORY. Women and lesbian groups meeting at Danner. Courtesy of Danner Crisis Center

Today, Danner serves as a crisis center for women who suffer from domestic violence.

Domestic violence

The front entrance of Danner opens to a reception area where women can come in at all hours of the day.  For delicate cases that require anonymity, there is an alternative secret entrance. In another room, volunteers man the phones and offer counseling. And in the back, cut off from the other administrative and operational parts of the house, are the apartments that women and their children can call their temporary home, a safe distance away from their abuser.

Inside the shelter accommodations at Danner. Photo by Lea Meilandt

The National Institute of Public Health estimates that there are about 33,000 cases of physical violence every year and about 2,000 women who live in crisis shelters like Danner. 

“Shelter is not the solution for every woman,” said Anne Zacho Møller, a knowledge consultant for the Danner Crisis Center.  “Moving into a shelter can be a very big step to take, sometimes overwhelming. Others may not be so affected yet, or maybe not in immediate danger and benefit from staying in their own home, while still needing counseling and support.” 

The gender equality myth

A study done by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed that one in 3 women in the EU have experienced physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15.

The same study showed that Denmark has one of the highest rates of domestic violence among EU countries at 52%, followed by Finland at 47%, and Sweden at 46%. 

The top 3 countries with the highest incidence of domestic violence are Nordic countries regarded as a gender equality utopia.

“It is indeed a myth that we have full gender equality in Denmark,” said Zacho Møller who was careful to also attribute the high numbers to increased awareness and better reporting.

“We know that feelings of shame and guilt are core to (women) holding back on reporting domestic violence. Danner and other organizations have worked for 4 decades to break the taboo of domestic violence and violence against women. This affects the levels of reporting,” Zacho Møller said. 

Therese Marie Baba Christensen, a project consultant for Danner, says that migrant women in abusive relationships face increased difficulty. 

“Language is a big problem. Many laws are in Danish, if they cannot understand the language, they cannot be fully aware of what their legal rights are,” said Christensen. “Also, they don’t have the social network of family that they would in their home country.” 

Christensen, a Filipino who moved in Denmark in 2008, handles counseling for Filipino migrant women. Danner also has counselors focused on the needs of migrant women from other countries such as the Middle East and Africa. 

From starting out as a home for young maids and servant girls, the Danner Crisis Center now extends its shelter and protection to vulnerable women of various races and nationalities.

It has witnessed the struggles of women across different classes and generations.

Painted on the building’s top floor windows in thick bold red is the female sign with a fist inside it. Over its years of existence, this symbol of what the center stands for has remained unchanged.

It is just as Rasmussen would have wanted it.  – Rappler.com

 

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Ana P. Santos

Ana P. Santos is an investigative journalist who specializes in reporting on the intersections of gender, sexuality, and migrant worker rights.