Greenland Women Seek Compensation from Denmark Over Forced Birth Control

A group of 67 women from Greenland is seeking compensation from the Danish government over a campaign of involuntary birth control implemented in the 1960s.

This program aimed to control birth rates among the indigenous population and saw at least 4,500 women, including teenagers, fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent.

Greenland, which is now a semi-sovereign territory of Denmark, was under Danish colonial rule until 1953.

Last year, the scale of this controversial campaign was exposed through a podcast by Danish broadcaster DR.

National archives revealed that between 1966 and 1970, IUDs were inserted into women as young as 13 without their consent.

The government of Greenland estimates that by the end of 1969, 35% of women in the territory capable of bearing children had been fitted with an IUD.

A commission established by the Danish and Greenlandic governments to investigate the program is not expected to deliver its findings until May 2025.

However, the women, some now in their 70s, are demanding immediate compensation of 300,000 kroner (£34,880; $42,150) each.

“We don’t want to wait for the results of the inquiry. We are getting older. The oldest of us, who had IUDs inserted in the 1960s, were born in the 1940s and are approaching 80. We want to act now,” Psychologist Naja Lyberth.

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Lyberth further highlighted that, in some cases, the IUDs were too large for the girls’ bodies, leading to severe health complications or infertility. In other instances, the women only recently discovered the devices during gynecological examinations.

The women accuse the Danish government at the time of seeking to control Greenland’s population size to reduce welfare costs.

Mads Pramming, the lawyer representing the women, has submitted their claim to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s office. While the government is expected to await the commission’s results before responding, the women have expressed their readiness to take the matter to court if necessary.