Danish care home abuse victims to get compensation

Denmark's social affairs ministry said Monday it would compensate 13 former residents of Solgarden, a Danish children's care home, after acknowledging serious failings while they were under state-supervised care.

The ministry said personal accounts and its files showed serious and systemic failings during the 13 former residents' stays at the home between 1949 and 1976. It said the state neglected its supervisory duty.

The 13 people, whose identities have not been made public, filed a complaint against the state in March over ill-treatment, including sexual abuse. The ministry put the compensation at 300,000 kroner ($47,000).

In 2024, former resident Tove Dohn Lauridsen told public radio that she and her sister had been systematically raped by the head of the institution when she was eight years old. The Lutheran Mission, which ran Solgarden, issued an apology in 2024 to all former residents.