This page answers your questions about crisis shelter stays arising intimate partner violence.
I want to move to a crisis shelter, but do I have the right to do this?
Everyone who legally resides in Denmark (with a legal residence permit) has the right to stay at a crisis shelter. It is the manager of the crisis shelter who is authorised to admit victims of violence to the shelter, which is why the manager is also empowered to assess who should be admitted.
A municipal referral is not a requirement for admission to a crisis shelter, nor is it a requirement that the violence to which you have been subjected must have been physical in nature. You may call Lev Uden Vold’s 24/7 hotline any time. Its staff have an overview of vacancies at Denmark’s crisis shelters. Hotline tel.: 1888.
Who pays for my stay at a crisis shelter?
It is the municipality who pays for most of the crisis shelter stay. The obligation to pay rests with the original municipality of residence (cf. the Section 9(7) of the Act on Due Process and Administration, i.e. the municipality in which you resided before you went to the crisis shelter. If the municipalities disagree about the payment obligation, it is the municipality in which you most recently had your officially registered address that serves as the municipality of residence and, thus, must pay until the disagreement is settled (cf. Section 9(12) of the Act on Due Process and Administration). In most cases, you must pay a small percentage of the crisis shelter costs as a user’s fee.
How much is the user’s fee at the crisis shelters, and is it possible to be exempt from paying or to pay a reduced user’s fee?
Basically, you pay for your stay out of your wages, pension, welfare benefits or other income. The rate of this user’s fee is set by the Minister for Social Affairs and the Interior. The rates are adjusted annually (2021: DKK 89/day).
The user’s fee covers the cost of the accommodation (including electricity and heat). In addition, a user’s fee can be set for food and laundry. If you have no income, no user’s fee will be set. In addition, the municipality determines and pays a small sum for personal necessities.
You can apply for a reduction of your user’s fee
from the paying municipality. The municipal council makes a specific, individual assessment of whether it is possible to reduce the user’s fee. The assessment includes the following factors: 1) whether you maintain your own residence at the same time that you are taking up residence in a shelter, and 2) your financial scope of action in general, including your possibility of saving enough money to set yourself up in a new place of residence.