Greenland Establishes Truth Commission Following Decades of Forced Contraception Scheme

Greenland is establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to address a decades-long forced contraceptive scheme targeted at Indigenous girls and women. This decision follows two expert reports that failed to reach a consensus on whether the campaign constituted genocide.

Between the 1960s and the 1990s, at least 4,000 Greenlandic Inuits—including girls as young as 12—received intrauterine devices (IUDs) or contraceptive injections, frequently without their knowledge or consent, according to a joint Danish-Greenlandic inquiry conducted last year. The inquiry revealed that the practice aimed to reduce birth rates and family sizes, which Danish authorities at the time believed would improve living standards as well as social and health conditions in Greenland, an Arctic island and semi-sovereign territory of Denmark with a population of 57,000.

In 2024, the government of Greenland tasked a four-member commission with investigating the campaign. The initiative left some victims suffering from severe infections, scarred fallopian tubes, or the complete removal of the uterus, rendering some permanently unable to have children.

However, the experts failed to reach a unanimous conclusion, as Greenlandic Justice Minister Marianne Paviasen informed reporters on Friday. One report stated the campaign did not constitute genocide, while the other concluded that the full extent of the violations could not be established.

“We cannot say, on behalf of the government, whether there was genocide. This is something we can continue to debate,” stated Marianne Paviasen.

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen emphasized that the reconciliation commission would “not be about assigning blame, but about uncovering the truth with a view to genuine reconciliation.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen noted that Copenhagen would “handle the political process together with the government of Greenland.” Meanwhile, the Greenlandic Siumut Party demanded that the genocide question be settled by “a competent and independent international court.”

“Today we could have been far more Greenlanders,” the party added.

Victims have raised concerns regarding the lack of Greenlandic Inuit representation among the experts appointed by the panel to investigate these painful histories.

“For me, this is not just about history or politics. It’s my body, my life, and my right to self-determination,” Henriette Berthelsen expressed to the AFP news agency. “And once again, I see that it is others who will investigate and define what was done to me and to other Inuit women.”

Inger Platou, a 70-year-old victim, shared with Reuters that she had awakened from what she was told was a minor operation only to discover an IUD had been inserted without her consent.

“It turns out we were treated like animals,” she said. “Without consent, they just wanted to stop women from giving birth or having children. It was a very inhumane act.” She added that complications from the coil left her unable to conceive.

Denmark previously issued an apology for the scheme last year, with Mette Frederiksen acknowledging “systematic discrimination” against Greenlanders. On Thursday, the Danish parliament agreed that women impacted by the forced contraception campaign are eligible to claim compensation of up to 300,000 Danish crowns ($46,758) each.