Greenland’s government stated it cannot definitively conclude whether genocide was committed against the Inuit community based on an examination of forced contraception practices administered during the 1960s and 1970s. Justice Minister Marianne Paviasen indicated the matter remains open for continued debate among officials and experts.
Two expert reports were released this week, one year following Denmark’s apology for the treatment of Inuit women and girls in the autonomous territory. Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen announced plans to establish a reconciliation commission, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pledged that both governments would collaborate on the matter. Denmark previously enacted compensation legislation providing 300,000 Danish crowns to each affected woman.
Archival records indicate that between 1966 and 1970, approximately 4,500 Greenlandic women and girls, some as young as 13 years old, had intrauterine devices implanted as part of a birth-control programme overseen by Danish medical professionals. Many women subsequently reported that the procedures were performed without their knowledge or informed consent. The contraceptive campaign had significant demographic effects, causing Greenland’s population growth to decline sharply.
The expert panel reviewing the matter became divided during its investigation. Two panelists found that Inuit women’s human rights were violated but concluded genocide could not be established based solely on contraceptive practices, though they noted genocidal intent remained a possible inference for courts to establish using broader evidence. The other two experts produced a dissenting report questioning the extent of mistreatment and finding no evidence of any authority’s intention to destroy the Greenlandic population. Affected women and critics highlighted concerns that no Greenlandic Inuits were appointed to the expert panel, questioning the investigation’s legitimacy and neutrality.
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