Greenland urges Denmark to confront its past

The Colonial Harbour area is seen in Nuuk, Greenland on August 31, 2024. Since the first victim account went unnoticed five years ago, Denmark’s forced contraception scandal in Greenland has mushroomed and Nuuk is now urging its former colonial power to acknowledge the widespread trauma it caused.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Denmark’s forced contraception scandal in Greenland has snowballed since a victim first spoke out five years ago with the territory urging the Danish state to acknowledge the trauma it had caused.

Danish authorities between the 1960s and the 1990s forced more than 4,500 young Inuit women to wear a contraceptive coil without their or their family’s consent.

The campaign was aimed at limiting the birth rate in the Arctic territory, which had not been a Danish colony since 1953 but was still under its control.

Greenlandic, Danish and international experts have opened a probe into the legal aspects of the scandal, including violations of indigenous people’s rights and consent issues. Its conclusions are due in mid-2025.

Another enquiry mapping the historical aspects of the campaign is to present its conclusions around the same time.

The scandal is one of many sensitive topics souring relations between Denmark and Greenland.

The legal investigation “is a necessary step in order to move forward,” Greenland’s Gender Equality Minister in charge of the case, Naaja Nathanielsen, said. “Violations did take place. How can we frame it in a legal setting? That’s what is being looked into right now. Maybe genocide, maybe not,” she added.

Human rights aspect

“An investigation would not be complete without looking into the human rights aspect, the indigenous rights aspect,” Ms. Nathanielsen said.

Nearly 150 women have sued the Danish state, and a trial could take place next year, according to their lawyer Mads Pramming.

The coils rendered around half of the women sterile, and the large majority have physical and psychological scars.

“If this case… is only treated in court, that will be a major failure,” said Ms. Nathanielsen.

“We need to address this in a political way, acknowledging this is a population that is affected.”