Denmark issues apology to Greenlanders due to birth control program

(MENAFN) Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has formally apologized for a decades-old forced contraception campaign in Greenland, where thousands of young women and girls were fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their consent.

The program, which ran primarily during the 1960s and 1970s while Greenland’s healthcare system was still under Danish authority, remained largely unknown until 2022. That year, a podcast titled Spiralkampagnen ("The Spiral Campaign") by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation revealed that up to 4,500 women and girls were subjected to the procedure, often without being informed.

Some women were unknowingly given IUDs after childbirth, while in other cases, communication barriers prevented them from understanding what was being done. The exposé sparked national outrage and renewed demands for justice.

Speaking on Wednesday, Frederiksen acknowledged the pain the campaign caused. “We recognize that the spiral case has caused deep sorrow and anger among many Greenlandic families,” she said. “We cannot undo the past, but we can take responsibility. On behalf of Denmark, I say: I’m sorry.”

She apologized specifically to the girls and women who were victims of what she described as “systematic discrimination,” targeted simply because they were Greenlandic. She expressed regret for the physical and emotional trauma they endured and for being betrayed by the system meant to care for them.

Frederiksen also promised ongoing dialogue with Greenland’s government as Denmark awaits the results of an independent investigation into the case, set to be released in September 2025. Questions of possible financial compensation are expected to be part of those discussions.

In 2024, a group of 143 women, now in their 70s and 80s, filed a lawsuit against Denmark’s Ministry of the Interior and Health, seeking nearly 43 million kroner (around $6.3 million) in damages for the forced procedures.

This is not the first time Denmark has faced scrutiny over its treatment of Greenlanders. In 2022, the country issued a public apology for a 1950s experiment in which Greenlandic children were relocated to Denmark as part of a controversial social program.

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