Denmark apologises for painful legacy of forced birth control in Greenland

Denmark and Greenland officially apologised on Wednesday for their roles in the historic mistreatment of Greenlandic Indigenous girls and women, including forced contraception, in cases that date back to the 1960s.

Greenland's Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the issue represented “a dark chapter in our history,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that although the past could not be changed, “we can take responsibility”.

Nearly 150 Inuit women last year sued Denmark and filed compensation claims against its health ministry, saying Danish health authorities violated their human rights when they fitted them with intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs).

The devices, fitted in the uterus, prevent sperm from fertilising an egg.

Some of the women, including many who were teenagers at the time, were not aware of what happened or did not give their consent.

Danish authorities last year said as many as 4,500 women and girls – reportedly half of the fertile women in Greenland at the time – received IUDs between the 1960s and mid-1970s.

The alleged purpose was to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancies. The population on the Arctic island was rapidly increasing at the time because of better living conditions and better health care.

“We cannot change what has happened. But we can take responsibility,” Frederiksen said in the statement. “That is why I would like to say, on behalf of Denmark: Sorry”.

Frederiksen said her apology also included Denmark’s systematic discrimination and other failures and mistreatments against Greenlanders “because they were Greenlanders”.

She acknowledged that the forced contraception led to physical and psychological harm.

Nielsen said the government of Greenland, which took over control of its health sector from Copenhagen in 1992, had acknowledged its own responsibility in the forced contraception cases and has chosen to move to award compensation to the victims.

“Far too many women were affected in a way that left deep imprints on lives, families, and communities,” he wrote in a social media post.

“I feel for the women and their loved ones. And I share in their sorrow and anger”.

He added: “It was about time that there was an apology from the official Denmark. For too long, the victims of the spiral case have been silenced to death. It’s sad that an apology only comes now – it’s too late and too bad”.

Greenland, which is part of the Danish realm, was a colony under Denmark’s crown until 1953, when it became a province in the Scandinavian country.

In 1979, the island was granted home rule, and 30 years later, Greenland became a self-governing entity.