About Danner
Danner is a progressive and recognized women’s rights organization. Danner works towards ending violence against women and children, and securing equality between men and women both in the private and public sphere.
Danner has run a shelter for women and children subjected to violence since 1979. More than 6000 women and children have lived at Danner`s shelter, and received help and empowerment to live a life free from violence. Danner is a feminist organization, who works from a human rights based approach to define, establish and achieve political, economic, personal and social rights for women on equal terms with men. Violence against women is a consequence of patriarchal norms, and we strive to promote social norms that renders violence against women unacceptable in order to secure equal opportunities for all.
Our hotline receives more than 2000 calls every year. The calls are mainly from women exposed to violence, but also from concerned relatives and a variety of professionals including social workers, lawyers, police, doctors and therapists.
The history of Danner
Danner has been a safe house for women in need since the Danish Countess Danner, formerly Louise Rasmussen, built it in 1875. Countess Danner was married to King Frederik VII. She bequeathed her assets to a foundation for poor working class women, and so the house was built. It served as a safe house for poor working class women until the late 1970s.
In 1979, the house faced the threat of demolition. The Danish Women's Liberation Movement considered itself the rightful successor and wanted the house to remain a refuge for women. They occupied the house on the 2nd of November 1979, and started a national fundraiser to be able to buy the house. They succeeded and restored the Danner House. It became one of the first shelters in Denmark and provided the setting for a political grassroots movement, which put equality and violence against women on the national agenda. The Danner House is an iconic symbol of the women’s rights movement in Denmark.
Each year on the 2nd of November, Danner celebrates the organisations' birthday, by appointing a person who made an extraordinary effort to promote women’s rights to receive Danner’s Honorary Award.
Image: Cristina Rosendahl received Danner’s Honorary Award in 2017 for her documentary film about Danner called ‘Violence – in the name of love.’ Photo: Lars Bech for Danner.
Danner’s women’s shelter was exclusively run by volunteers for almost 30 years. Today, Danner is a professional NGO with about 40 staff and 150 volunteers. Together employees and volunteers carry both the legacy of Countess Danner, empowerment of women and the spirit of modern feminism.
In 2007 Danner started working internationally by exchanging knowledge about how to build network among organizations working with gender equality and domestic violence. Today Danner is engaged in a number of international partnership projects within the three areas: Network, capacity development and vulnerable groups.
Danner continues to work with survivors of violence, provide national counseling services, as well as public awareness programs, advocacy work and national and international partnership projects through its Resource Centre.
