Denmark to compensate thousands of Indigenous women and girls in Greenland over forced contraception

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark has reached a deal to compensate thousands of Indigenous women and girls in Greenland over cases of forcible contraception carried out by health authorities over decades starting in the 1960s.

The Danish health ministry said Wednesday that women who were given contraception against their knowledge or consent between 1960 and 1991 can apply for individual payouts of 300,000 Danish kroner (about $46,000) starting next April.

An estimated 4,500 women could be entitled to compensation. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

READ MORE: Hundreds of Greenlandic women and girls were forcibly given contraception between 1960 and 1991, report says

The Inuits, many of them teenagers at the time, were fitted with intrauterine contraceptive devices, known as IUDs or coils, or given a hormonal birth control injection — either without learning details or giving their consent.

"The IUD case is a dark chapter in our shared history. It has had major consequences for the Greenlandic women who have experienced both physical and psychological harm," Health Minister Sophie Lohde said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, we cannot remove the pain from the women, but compensation helps to acknowledge and apologize for the experiences they have gone through," she added.

The women can seek compensation through June 2028.

An independent investigation published in September found that more than 350 Greenlandic Indigenous women and girls, including some 12 years old and younger, had reported they were forcibly given contraception by health authorities — though more than 4,000 women and girls are believed to have been affected.