Denmark Apologises for Forced Contraception in Greenland

Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen formally apologized in Nuuk for a decades‑long Danish program that, from the 1960s into later decades, saw intrauterine devices and other contraception inserted in Greenlandic Inuit girls and women without their knowledge or consent. A two‑year independent investigation documented 349 cases—210 of them with complications—and estimated that as many as 4,500 people may have been affected, with some victims as young as 12 and many reporting lasting pain, health problems and infertility. Frederiksen said Copenhagen accepts responsibility and announced plans for a reconciliation fund and compensation. About 143–150 women are pursuing legal claims seeking collective damages, with at least one reported claim of up to 43 million Danish kroner. Survivors’ reactions were mixed, with some welcoming the recognition while others staged protests saying an apology is insufficient. Danish leaders framed the apology as part of redressing colonial‑era abuses and repairing Denmark–Greenland ties amid renewed geopolitical attention to Greenland.