This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
On August 13, 2019, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen made history by apologizing to hundreds of victims of abuse at state-run children's homes in the post-war period.
Speaking at her official Marienborg residence, Frederiksen looked each of the victims in the eye and said, "I want to look each of you in the eye and say sorry. Sorry for the injustice that has been done to you and your loved ones."
Her words were met with visible emotion, as some of the victims openly wept. Frederiksen's apology was a long time coming, with an official report from 2011, dubbed the Godhavn Report, finding that children at 19 state-run homes had been subjected to sexual, physical and psychological abuse between 1945 and 1976.
Details of the abuse at the Godhavn boys' home in northern Denmark first emerged in a television documentary aired in 2005, and went on to make headlines in the national media. Since the report was published, victims have repeatedly called for a formal apology.
One of the victims, Poul-Erik Rasmussen, who was at Godhavn in the 1960s, said Frederiksen's words were meaningful. "The memories never go away," he told Danish news agency Ritzau. "But, with an apology, we think that a lot of people will now have peace of mind that what happened to them is not their fault," he added.
