About 4 500 Inuit women in Greenland were forced to wear contraceptive devices without consent from the 1960s until 1992.
Denmark on Monday announced the creation of a “reconciliation fund” to compensate women affected by a forced contraception programme in Greenland, two days before making a formal apology.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will travel to the Danish autonomous territory’s capital Nuuk this week to take part in a ceremony to mark the apology, which she first officially offered in late August.
Reconciliation fund and financial compensation
The Danish leader said in a statement Monday that in connection with the visit, she would discuss the creation of a “reconciliation fund” with her Greenlandic counterpart, “which can provide individual financial compensation to Greenlandic women”.
From the 1960s until 1992, Danish authorities forced around 4 500 Inuit women, around half of those of child-bearing age, to wear a contraceptive coil — or intrauterine device (IUD) — without their consent.
The aim was to reduce the Inuit birth rate.
Many of the women were left sterile and almost all of them have suffered from physical or psychological problems.
The reconciliation fund, the size of which was not specified, could also be used to compensate other Greenlanders who had faced discrimination due to their origin, the statement added.
“We cannot change what has happened but we can take responsibility, and we can create the conditions for reconciliation with the past,” Frederiksen said.
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Around 150 of the victims have sued the Danish state for violating their rights and demanded compensation.
Broken ties and mended fences
The scandal is one of several sensitive dossiers tainting Denmark’s ties to its autonomous territory, including forced adoptions and the forced removal of Greenlandic Inuit children from their families.
Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 and did not gain home rule until 1979.
The massive Arctic island has ended up in the global spotlight following the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January.
Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs the strategically located, resource-rich island for security reasons, and has refused to rule out the use of force to secure it.
The Danish state took a first step in 2022 towards mending ties with Greenland’s Inuit population.
Six Inuit received apologies and compensation, more than 70 years after being separated from their families to participate in an experiment aimed at creating a Danish-speaking elite on the island.
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