Mayor of Copenhagen steps down over sexual harassment

[October 19, 2020]  By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Frank Jensen, mayor of Denmark's capital Copenhagen for over a decade, resigned on Monday after admitting to several episodes of sexual harassment, and he apologised to "the women I have offended".

Jensen, 59, who will also step down as deputy of Denmark's governing Social Democratic Party, has served as Lord Mayor of Copenhagen since 2010.

His resignation was welcomed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, calling it "the right decision" in a Facebook post.

"It is obvious that we in the Social Democratic Party have problems, and that needs to change now," she told local news agency Ritzau earlier on Monday.

Jensen's exit came after two women, one of them employed by the Social Democrats, described being sexually harassed by Jensen in 2012 and 2017, in remarks published on Friday by daily Jyllands-Posten. They said both incidents were at social events and involved Jensen touching the women against their will.

Jensen said on Facebook he had been part of a "harmful" and "old" culture in the Social Democratic Party. "I would like to apologise to the women I have offended," Jensen told a news conference on Monday.

A series of sexual harassment cases in Denmark have come to light in recent months as more women within politics, the movie industry and the media have come forward to describe incidents involving male colleagues and superiors.

Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jensen (centre) attends a climate change protest march during the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 11, 2019 Ritzau Scanpix/Tariq Mikkel Khan/ via REUTERS Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

Frederiksen praised Jensen for his political career spanning more than 30 years work but said "insurmountable" problems "blocked continued political involvement."

Jensen, 59, previously served as minister of justice and minister of research in the 1990s and early 2000s.

In another high-profile case, the leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party, a key ally of the minority government, stepped down earlier this month after trying to hide having sexually harassed a female party colleague in 2012.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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