Denmark apologises for 60s-era forced teenage birth control in Greenland
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Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen address reporters in front of the Marienborg, in Denmark.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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COPENHAGEN – Denmark’s prime minister has issued a rare apology over a decades-long scandal in which thousands of Greenlandic girls and young women were fitted with IUDs by Danish doctors, often without consent.
“We cannot change what has happened, but we can take responsibility. Therefore, on behalf of Denmark, I would like to say: I’m sorry,” Ms Mette Frederiksen said in a written statement.
“Sorry to the girls and women who were subjected to systematic discrimination. Because they were Greenlanders. For the physical and psychological harm they suffered. For being betrayed,” she said.
An investigation by Danish broadcaster DR found that, in the late 1960s, about 4,500 of the 9,000 fertile women in Greenland were fitted with IUDs by Danish doctors. Birth rates in the territory more than halved.
The so-called coil case has come to symbolise the discrimination faced by Greenlanders during the years when Denmark directly controlled the island’s affairs, fuelling resentment and calls for redress. It has also prompted a lawsuit by some of the women.
By formally acknowledging responsibility, Denmark may ease long-standing grievances in Greenland and temper some of the calls for full independence.
A probe commissioned by the Danish government is due in September. Once complete, Denmark will deal with questions of possible financial compensation to the women affected, Ms Frederiksen said. BLOOMBERG
