Cultural mediator Uzma Ahmeed and photographer Tina Enghoff have turned the spotlight on one of Denmark’s most humanitarianly sensitive issues with their photography project Seven. With the publication of a book and a major exhibition at Denmark’s Royal Library, the two bring to the fore Denmark’s ‘Seven-year rule’ – a contentious piece of legislation affecting primarily women residing in Denmark who have been reunited with their spouse. One of Denmark’s most acknowledged female authors, Kirsten Thorup, has written the preface to the book. She raises the question of just where Denmark’s pain threshold goes when it comes to these women who find themselves trapped between a life of abuse or deportation.

This Danish legislation means that any woman who has come to Denmark to be reunited with a spouse must to remain ‘tied’ to her husband for seven years before being able to apply for permanent residency independently. In the spring of 2010 the rules were altered reducing the period a woman has to remain tied to a man to four years before being eligible for permanent residency. On the other hand, however, this reform also brought with it stricter requirements for employment, Danish language proficiencies and education. As well as this, a two-year rule was also introduced which allows a woman to apply for residency after two years if she can prove that abuse is the cause of the marital breakdown and can produce clear evidence that abuse has been committed.

Statistics

There are no figures showing just how many women victims of violence there are in Denmark. There is also much disagreement as to how many women brought into Denmark to join a husband live hidden from the authorities and are the victims of spousal abuse. The vast majority of women who move to Denmark from abroad to be reunited with a spouse are married to a Danish or Nordic citizen. The marriage visas statistics for 2009 show that 3,043 of the 3,662 marriage visas issued in Denmark were to spouses marrying resident Danish of Nordic citizens (The Danish Immigration Service, 2010). The countries whose citizens were granted most marriage visas were Thailand, Turkey and The Philippines. The annual reports from women’s shelters in Denmark show that of the approximately 2,000 women who annually seek refuge in a women’s shelter, roughly 40% are women with a non-Danish ethnic backgrounds.

In Denmark, before a person can be divorced he or she must undergo a period of legal separation.This legal separation is a form of trial period during which the husband and wife live apart. In accordance with Danish law, a spouse who does not believe that it is possible for him or herself to continue the marital union has the right to instigate legal separation.No given reason is required by law other than that the individual does not feel capable of continuing in the marriage. Firstly, the parties are legally separated and, if both spouses agree to divorce, they may be legally divorced after 6 months of separation.Should one party not agree to the divorce, a spouse can become legally divorced following a period of 12 months separation. In cases involving infidelity or violence within a marriage, divorce can be granted immediately – providing that the violence has been reported to the police or that medical reports can substantiate the fact that a person is the victim of violence. In infidelity cases, a statement from the third party stating that they have been involved with the relevant spouse, is required.