According to the latest figures from Statistics Denmark reported by Berlingske Tidende, police received 418 reports of rape in 2009. But according to a Justice Ministry survey, some 3,000 women are subjected to sexual assault with a view to rape each year, suggesting that many rapes go unreported.

“There are undoubtedly worse figures that we don’t know about,” says Prof. Flemming Balvig who is co-author of the Justice Ministry report.

Balvig arrived at the figures by canvassing a representative national group on whether they ‘through violence or threats’ had been subjected to forced intercourse or attempted forced intercourse.

“But there are probably still some who won’t talk about that sort of thing when we call,” Balvig tells Berlingske Tidende.

According to the Centre for Victims of Violence, the low number of rape reports is a result of the fact that in two thirds of the cases, rape occurs between people who know each other.