🔗 Share this article Inuit Females Claim Legal Victory over Struggle against Denmark regarding Coerced IUD Affair. Survivors of a past program where thousands of Inuit women and girls were forcibly fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent are declaring victory following their court battle with the Danish government. It has been announced the women will be entitled to financial redress from a settlement package. Government Agreement Reached Folketinget, and the government, reached an agreement that entitles an estimated 4,500 Greenlandic women to claim 300,000 DKK (around thirty-five thousand pounds) per person. This announcement comes after a three-year campaign by a group of women who initiated legal proceedings seeking compensation over the trauma and distress they experienced, which they said constituted a breach of fundamental human rights. Historical Context Denmark administered Greenland under colonial rule for decades and retained authority over its medical services into the late 20th century. Earlier this year, after years where it did not address these actions, Denmark issued a formal expression of regret. The prime minister expressed sorrow for the “institutional prejudice” targeting Greenlandic females by the state medical apparatus. “These actions caused significant consequences for the Greenlandic women who suffered not only bodily and mental trauma,” stated the senior official. Redress Procedure Outlined Authorities stated that women who were given contraception covertly during a thirty-one year period would be able to seek compensation starting next year. The law will come into force in June. According to results of an independent inquiry of medical procedures from that era, roughly 4,500 women are potentially eligible for compensation. To qualify, applicants will need to: Provide a “plausible account” of the incident. Demonstrate they resided on the island during the specified timeframe. Declare on oath that they possessed no awareness nor gave permission for it to occur. Perspectives from the Victims One of the plaintiffs, recalling being fourteen at the time she was instructed to report to the hospital without explanation, said it like an assault. “Our activism as speakers and interviewees has been effective,” she stated. “It began two years ago and now within three years we got an apology plus financial acknowledgment.” A different voice expressed happiness, saying, “This is a positive outcome. Like my mother said: we won.” While there is a view the compensation could have been higher, they expressed contentment regarding the acknowledgment of what happened. Official Responses A Greenlandic official called the compensation being “well past due”. Stating clearly, “It is not about the money. It concerns formal acknowledgment of the hurt and its profound consequences.” A Danish health minister conceded these events represent a “dark chapter within the joint past”, adding while redress “cannot remove the pain from the women” yet it “helps to acknowledge and express regret over what they endured.”
Survivors of a past program where thousands of Inuit women and girls were forcibly fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent are declaring victory following their court battle with the Danish government. It has been announced the women will be entitled to financial redress from a settlement package. Government Agreement Reached Folketinget, and the government, reached an agreement that entitles an estimated 4,500 Greenlandic women to claim 300,000 DKK (around thirty-five thousand pounds) per person. This announcement comes after a three-year campaign by a group of women who initiated legal proceedings seeking compensation over the trauma and distress they experienced, which they said constituted a breach of fundamental human rights. Historical Context Denmark administered Greenland under colonial rule for decades and retained authority over its medical services into the late 20th century. Earlier this year, after years where it did not address these actions, Denmark issued a formal expression of regret. The prime minister expressed sorrow for the “institutional prejudice” targeting Greenlandic females by the state medical apparatus. “These actions caused significant consequences for the Greenlandic women who suffered not only bodily and mental trauma,” stated the senior official. Redress Procedure Outlined Authorities stated that women who were given contraception covertly during a thirty-one year period would be able to seek compensation starting next year. The law will come into force in June. According to results of an independent inquiry of medical procedures from that era, roughly 4,500 women are potentially eligible for compensation. To qualify, applicants will need to: Provide a “plausible account” of the incident. Demonstrate they resided on the island during the specified timeframe. Declare on oath that they possessed no awareness nor gave permission for it to occur. Perspectives from the Victims One of the plaintiffs, recalling being fourteen at the time she was instructed to report to the hospital without explanation, said it like an assault. “Our activism as speakers and interviewees has been effective,” she stated. “It began two years ago and now within three years we got an apology plus financial acknowledgment.” A different voice expressed happiness, saying, “This is a positive outcome. Like my mother said: we won.” While there is a view the compensation could have been higher, they expressed contentment regarding the acknowledgment of what happened. Official Responses A Greenlandic official called the compensation being “well past due”. Stating clearly, “It is not about the money. It concerns formal acknowledgment of the hurt and its profound consequences.” A Danish health minister conceded these events represent a “dark chapter within the joint past”, adding while redress “cannot remove the pain from the women” yet it “helps to acknowledge and express regret over what they endured.”