Forced birth control in Greenland violated women's rights but didn't constitute genocide, experts find
Two expert reports said forced contraception violated Inuit women’s rights, but only one found a possible basis for genocide under the United Nations convention.
- On Friday, two expert reports concluded that a campaign of forced contraception in Greenland violated human rights but did not meet the legal definition of genocide. The Greenlandic government accepted one report's findings while rejecting the other.
- Known as the "spiral case," the campaign saw at least 4,000 Greenlandic women and girls fitted with IUDs between 1966 and 1991 without consent. Danish authorities intended to limit population growth to improve social conditions.
- Inger Platou, a 70-year-old victim, said "It turns out we were treated like animals" after an IUD was inserted without her consent. On Thursday, the Danish government passed a compensation law providing 300,000 Danish crowns to each affected woman.
- Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen announced a reconciliation commission to uncover the truth, which Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen endorsed. The Greenlandic Siumut party demanded an independent international court settle the genocide question, stating "Today we could have been far more Greenlanders."
- The reports' findings carry geopolitical sensitivity as President Donald Trump seeks to control the Arctic island. The Greenlandic government rejected one report for failing to meet "recognised scientific standards," though both leaders endorsed establishing a commission.
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58 Articles
Copenhagen. Women of the Inuit people rejected yesterday a report by an expert commission on a forced contraception campaign in Greenland, executed by Denmark between 1960 and 1990, which ruled that the human rights of women in that community were violated, but did not comply with the legal definition of “genocide”.
Greenland proposed this Friday to set up a reconciliation commission on Denmark's forced contraception campaign for Inuit women, after a committee of experts on the subject failed to determine whether it was a "genocide".
Reports split over whether forced contraception of Greenlandic women constituted genocide
NUUK, Greenland — Two reports investigating the forcible contraception of thousands of Indigenous women and girls in Greenland by Danish health authorities for decades were split over whether the practice constituted genocide.
Thousands of Inuit women and girls received intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge between 1960 and 1991. The compensation amounts to 300,000 Danish kroner (more than 40,000 euros) per person. More information: Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister who endures global pressure on the pulse with Trump for Greenland
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