GENEVA – A report by two Danish members who withdrew from an expert group appointed by the Government of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut), casts doubts over Denmark’s campaign of forced contraception of thousands of Greenlandic Indigenous Inuit women and girls, who endured the practice for decades in public care institutions, UN experts* said today.
“The Governments of Denmark and Greenland already recognised that Inuit women and girls endured this horrific practice, and the governments made a public apology,” the experts said. “True and effective remedy or healing cannot be achieved without first establishing a clear, accurate and undisputed record of historical facts.”
“Attempts to minimise or exonerate responsibility for wrongdoing and injustices undermine redress for victims because true and effective remedy should be based on factual records and the lived experiences of victims,” the experts said.
The concerns follow the publication of a dissenting report by two former members of a Government-appointed expert group tasked with examining historical injustices against Inuit women and girls in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). The report concludes that “there are no empirical grounds to assume, at any time during the period studied, that Danish or Greenlandic authorities, including the chief medical officer, pursued a policy of intentionally and systematically inserting IUDs without consent, nor are there grounds to assume that any authority strove to limit population growth.”
During a visit to Denmark and Greenland in 2023, the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples received reports directly from Indigenous Inuit women who had intrauterine devices inserted without their knowledge or consent, including while they were children. The Special Rapporteur’s subsequent thematic report to the Human Rights Council documented serious and lasting physical and psychological consequences and stressed the need for meaningful participation of affected women in truth-seeking and accountability processes.
“Across the world, Indigenous women’s reproductive health and rights have been subjected to control through colonial, assimilationist and population-control policies. These practices have caused profound intergenerational harm,” the experts said.
“While official apologies and compensation measures are welcome, we wish to recall that effective remedy requires more than mere acknowledgement and financial redress that issues standard lump sum payments to victims irrespective of the gravity of violations inflicted upon these women and girls,” they said.
They urged Denmark to strengthen linguistic and cultural pathways for applying for compensation schemes and ensure that eligible Inuit women with disabilities are not forgotten.
“Truth-seeking, reparations and institutional reform must be centred on the women affected, and carried out in a manner that avoids re-traumatisation.”
The experts urged the Governments of Denmark and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) to address the totality of crimes described in the reports, including reproductive violence beyond forced contraception, such as forced adoption and removal of Inuit children from their parents without free, prior and informed consent and the need to develop comprehensive reparations in consultation with affected women, and implement measures to prevent recurrence.
“The courage of Inuit women brought these violations to light,” they said. “Their dignity, voices and rights must remain at the centre of all efforts toward truth, justice, healing and reconciliation.”
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