Greenland Seeks Truth and Reconciliation Over Forced Contraception Scandal

Greenlandic authorities have announced plans to establish a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the deeply traumatic "coil case," involving the forced implantation of intrauterine devices on thousands of Greenlandic women by Danish officials. This move comes after a panel of experts could not reach a consensus on whether these coercive measures, carried out between the 1960s and 1990s, amounted to genocide.

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We can not say, on behalf of the government, whether genocide has occurred. This is something we can continue to discuss.

Between the 1960s and the early 2000s, an estimated 4,000 to 4,500 Greenlandic women and girls, some as young as 12, were fitted with IUDs, often without their informed consent or that of their parents. Many of these women later found they were unable to have children. The failure of the expert committee to definitively label these actions as genocide has led to frustration among victims, who feel their experiences are being minimized and re-traumatized by a process that does not include enough Greenlandic Inuit perspectives.

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We will set up a reconciliation committee.

Marianne Paviasen, Greenland's Minister of Justice, stated that while the government cannot definitively declare genocide, the process of discussion will continue. Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the Prime Minister of Greenland, emphasized that the priority is to begin a healing process and committed to forming a reconciliation commission, working collaboratively with Denmark. In Copenhagen, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen echoed this sentiment, stressing the importance of finding the right path forward together with Greenland's government.

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We will handle the political process together with the government of Greenland. The most important thing for me is that we find the right way forward together.

While the expert reports differed, both acknowledged that the Danish family planning program likely violated numerous human rights and indigenous rights. Victims, like Henriette Berthelsen, have expressed their pain, stating, "This is not just about history or politics. It is about my body, my life, and my right to self-determination." She voiced concern that others are defining what happened to her and other Inuit women, highlighting the ongoing struggle for agency and recognition.

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In one it says that no genocide has occurred, but in the other it says that it may have.