Investigation Finds More Than 350 Greenlandic Women and Girls Were Forcibly Given Contraception by Danish Health Authorities

An independent investigation released Tuesday found that more than 350 Greenlandic Indigenous women and girls, some as young as 12 and at least one under 12, were forcibly given contraception by Danish health authorities in cases dating to the 1960s.

The report says the victims, many of them teenagers at the time, were either fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs, also called coils) or given hormonal birth control injections without being informed of the details or without giving consent. Survivors described traumatic experiences and reported physical complications that ranged from pain and bleeding to serious infections, as well as enduring feelings of shame.

The governments of Denmark and Greenland issued an official apology last month for their roles in the historic mistreatment and scheduled an apology event in Greenland's capital for Sept. 24. Danish authorities previously told investigators that more than 4,000 women and girls — reportedly about half of fertile women in Greenland at the time — received IUDs between the 1960s and the mid-1970s.

The investigation, opened on June 1, 2023 after a media outcry, collected reports from 354 Greenlandic women who spoke to investigators. When interviewed for the inquiry the women were between 48 and 89 years old; nearly all were between 12 and 37 when the procedures occurred. The vast majority of the procedures were reported to have taken place in Greenland. An attorney representing some victims could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Victims and advocates say the placement of devices and administration of injections were part of an apparent effort to limit population growth in Greenland amid rapid increases in population linked to improved living conditions and health care. The report frames the forced contraception as one element of a broader pattern of Danish policies that dehumanized Greenlanders and their families over decades.

The probe places the coercive contraception alongside other historical practices, including the removal of young Inuit children from their families to be placed with Danish foster families and the use of parental competency tests that led to forced separations of Greenlandic families. Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, became a province of Denmark that year, gained home rule in 1979 and later became a self-governing entity while remaining part of the Danish realm. Greenland assumed responsibility for its own health care programs on Jan. 1, 1992.

Nearly 150 Inuit women filed a lawsuit against Denmark and lodged compensation claims with the Danish health ministry last year, alleging violations of their human rights; that legal case is ongoing. The independent investigators compiled survivors' testimonies as part of efforts to document the scope and nature of the practices and to inform possible redress.

Danish officials have acknowledged the historic mistreatment and expressed regret in advance of the report's release. Greenlandic leaders also have addressed the issue publicly. The report adds to a series of investigations and public reckonings in Nordic countries and elsewhere about coercive reproductive practices targeting Indigenous and minority populations during the 20th century.

The findings are likely to shape discussions in Greenland and Denmark about historical accountability, compensation and measures to prevent such abuses in the future. The scheduled apology event on Sept. 24 is expected to be a formal recognition of the harms described in the report and part of efforts to offer redress to survivors.