Denmark is being sued by 143 Indigenous Greenland women for forcing them to use IUDs in the 1960s and 1970s. The women demand €5.8 million (43 million kroner) in compensation because Danish health personnel fitted them with coils without their consent, breaching their human rights.
The forceful intervention was unknown to many adolescent girls. The women demand 300,000 kroner (€40,000). Given Greenland’s rapid population increase due to improved living conditions and healthcare, mandatory contraception was said to prevent pregnancies.
Danish officials said that 4,500 women and girls—half of Greenland’s viable female population—had coil implants before the deadline. In September 2022, Denmark and Greenland began studying the project, with findings expected the following year. The suing women are seeking justice in court without waiting for the probe.
Over-80 women say they cannot wait for justice and want to regain self- and body-respect. It follows 67 women’s forced contraception complaint against Denmark.
Denmark apologized for its Greenland behavior in the past. In 2020, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen apologized to 22 Greenlandic children who were involuntarily sent to Denmark in 1951 for a failed social experiment. This court case highlights Denmark and Greenland’s convoluted past, highlighting responsibility and justice problems.
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