What is the forced contraception scandal that Denmark has apologised for?

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has given a long-awaited apology to the victims of forced contraception programme in Greenland.

Frederiksen said that while the past could not be undone, “we can take responsibility.”

About 150 Inuit women have taken legal action against Denmark, accusing it of violating their rights and seeking compensation from the health ministry.

The use of birth control was so widespread that it caused a sharp decline in Greenland’s population growth.

But what was the forced contraception scandal? And what did the Danish Prime Minister say?

Let’s find out:

What happened?

From the 1960s until 1992, Danish authorities made about 4,500 Inuit women, nearly half of those of childbearing age, use intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their consent.

The alleged aim was to slow population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancies. At the time, the island’s population was rising quickly due to improved living conditions and better health care.

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Many women were left unable to have children, and almost all suffered physical or emotional harm.

Around 150 women later filed cases against the Danish state, accusing it of violating their rights and asking for compensation.

The issue first came to public attention when one of the women spoke in the media about the trauma she had suffered.

In 2022, a podcast series by Danish broadcaster DR revealed the full scale of the campaign.

Greenland, part of the Danish realm, remained a colony until 1953, when it became a province of Denmark. In 1979, it was granted home rule, and 30 years later, it became self-governing.

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The policies included forced contraception, taking young Inuit children away from their parents to live with Danish foster families for re-education, and controversial parental competency tests that broke families apart.

Naja Lyberth was the first woman to speak out and share her experience.

“His tool penetrated me to insert the coil. It was very cold and felt like a knife stabbing my insides. It was very violent,” she told AFP.

“I could clearly see that the tools looked much too big for my little girl’s body, but at the time I didn’t realise they were for adult women.”

“It was like torture, like a rape,” she said.

The scandal is one of several painful issues that continue to affect Denmark’s relations with Greenland, including forced adoptions and the removal of Inuit children from their families.

The use of forced contraception went on at a smaller level even after 1992, when Greenland took charge of its own health system.

What did the Danish PM say?

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

She added that her apology also covered Denmark’s systematic discrimination and other mistreatment of Greenlanders “because they were Greenlanders.”

Frederiksen admitted that the forced contraception had caused both physical and psychological harm.

Mads Pramming, the lawyer representing the women, welcomed the apology but stated that the matter was not over. What truly matters, he said, is whether the government accepts that the women’s human rights were violated and agrees to compensation.

“Now it remains to be seen if the state will recognise its legal responsibility and offer compensation. Until that is done, I won’t be opening the champagne,” he said.

One of the victims, Henriette Berthelsen, told AFP she was satisfied.

“I’m happy but it has perhaps come belatedly,” she said, adding: “It generates a lot of thoughts.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also issued an apology in the same statement for cases that took place under Greenland’s authority.

“I apologise to those of you who have been exposed to and lived with the consequences of interventions you did not ask for nor had control over,” he said.

The apologies came on the same day that Danish broadcaster DR reported that US officials close to Donald Trump had been spotted in Greenland seeking information on sensitive matters that could be used to throw Denmark in a negative light.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to take control of Greenland for security purposes and has not ruled out the use of force to secure the strategically important, resource-rich island.

With inputs from agencies