Annika Frida Petersen

Annika Frida Petersen serves as an External Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, with concurrent research engagement at the Institute for Human Rights since April 2023. Her academic foundation includes a PhD in Law (2020) and LL.M. in Law (2014) from the same institution.

Her educational credentials:

• PhD in Law, University of Copenhagen (awarded 9 September 2020)
• LL.M. in Law, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen (awarded 14 September 2014)

Petersen's research critically examines intersections of welfare law, health law, and human rights law, with concentrated focus on Danish abortion legislation. Her empirical analyses expose systemic conflicts between national law and international human rights standards, particularly regarding late-term abortion access for sexual assault survivors and geographic disparities in regional advisory board practices. She identifies how informal administrative barriers and legislative blind spots disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.

Analysis of her 2021-2025 publications reveals consistent methodological rigor in deconstructing Denmark's 'legal black box' of abortion governance. Her work demonstrates how autonomy-based legal frameworks paradoxically create access barriers through inconsistent regional interpretations, with significant implications for children's rights in biomedicine and reproductive justice. Policy citations and media coverage confirm real-world impact on Danish legislative discourse.

She actively disseminates findings through academic lectures and media engagements, including presentations on abortion advisory board practices and legal misidentifications in sexual violence cases. Her research has generated policy references, Mendeley readership, and substantial media attention regarding postcode-based access disparities in late-term abortion services.