The 1960s and 1970s campaign applied the IUD without consent or knowledge to more than 4,500 women in the former Danish colony. Many of them were teenagers at the time and are now seeking compensation. A group of 143 indigenous women from Greenland filed a lawsuit against the Danish state on Monday (03/04). They accuse Denmark of organizing a campaign in the 1960s and 1970s in which intrauterine devices (IUDs) were inserted without their consent.
Many were still teenagers when Denmark embarked on a campaign to reduce the birth rate in the Arctic territory without their consent or knowledge. At the time, Greenland was no longer a colony, but continued under Danish control.
In October, 67 women asked the state to pay them financial compensation of 300,000 Danish kroner (more than R$216,000) each, but received no response. Since then, more and more women have decided to join the process.
“My clients chose to do this because they did not receive a response to their compensation request in October. Since then, other women have joined us. The oldest is 85,” Mads Pramming, the prosecuting attorney.
Over 4,500 victims
The case came to light after a podcast series by Danish public broadcaster DR, broadcast in 2022, revealed the scale of the campaign, which involved more than 4,500 women, based on data from the National Archives.
The aim of the campaign was to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancy. At the time, the Arctic island’s population was increasing rapidly, thanks to improved living conditions and the local healthcare system.
The IUD has been installed in Inuit girls (indigenous to the region) from the age of 13. Many women did not know they had the device applied and, until recently, Greenlandic gynecologists continued to find it in women who had no idea it was there.
In September 2022, the governments of Denmark and Greenland launched an investigation into the program and the result of the investigation is expected to be published in 2025, but for victims this deadline is not enough. “The oldest among us are over 80 years old and so we can’t wait any longer,” Naja Lyberth, one of the victims, told KNR.
“We want to regain our self-esteem, respect and reverence for our womb while we are still alive.” Lyberth was one of the first to speak openly about the topic and she was only 14 when she was given the IUD.
It was not the first time that human rights violations involving Denmark were commonplace. In 2022, the Danish state apologized and paid compensation to six Inuit, more than 70 years after they were separated from their families to participate in an experiment to create a Danish-speaking elite in Greenland.
enk (AFP/AP/Reuters)
Source: Terra
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