Over 350 Indigenous women and girls in Greenland, some 12 and younger, were given contraceptives without their knowledge between 1960 to 1991 from Danish health authorities, according to an independent investigation released Sep. 9.
IUDs, ‘Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices’, are implanted in the uterus and prevent sperm from fertilizing an egg. This led to traumatic experiences and physical side effects, including pain to bleeding to infection.
The investigation began June 1, 2023, after a media outcry in 2022. According to AP Press, investigators received reports from 354 Greenlandic women between the ages of 48 and 89. They were among the ages of 12 to 37 years old when the procedures took place. The report even detailed a victim who was under the age of 12, though the name of this person has been kept anonymous.
Naja Lyberth, an Inuit Greenlander, spoke to the BBC about her experience of a forced contraceptive procedure in the 1970s. Naja, who believes she was around 13-years-old, visited a hospital after a routine medical exam at her school. Naja, who was 60 at the time the article was published, said she did not know what the procedure was. Consent for the procedure was not sought after from either Naja’s parents or herself. Naja said to a BBC reporter, “I was afraid, I couldn’t tell my parents. I was a virgin. I had never even kissed a boy.”
The reported reason for the forced contraception was to limit the skyrocketing population in Greenland during the 1960s and 1970s, after sweeping modernization plans gave better healthcare and living conditions to the country.
Although Greenland gained home-rule from Denmark in 1979, it was not until 2009 when the arctic country gained self-rule, giving more power to its own government rather than to Denmark. Greenland only took control of its own health sector in 1992 and the country still remains an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark.
Although the report outlined more than 350 women’s experiences, Danish authorities reported last year that as many as 4,500 women and girls received IUDs between the 1960s to the mid-1970s. According to the AP Press, that number would reportedly make up half of the fertile women in Greenland at the time.
Last year, nearly 150 Inuit Greenlandic women sued Denmark and filed complaints against the health ministry. They detailed reports of their experiences, saying that they were not aware of the procedures and did not consent to them.
In August, Denmark and Greenland officially apologized for their role in the historic oppression and continuous mistreatment of Inuit women and girls. Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, said in a joint statement with Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, “We cannot change what happened, but we can take responsibility.” The Prime Minister went on to say, “That is why I would like to say, on behalf of Denmark: Sorry.” Nielsen wrote in a statement on social media, “I feel for women and loved ones, and I share in their sorrow and anger. It’s sad that an apology only comes now – it’s too late and too bad.” An official apology event in Greenland’s capital is set for Sep. 24.
