Denmark creates fund for victims of forced contraception in Greenland

Two days before the formal apology to victims of the forced contraception campaign that Denmark imposed in Greenland is due to arrive, Copenhagen announced, this Monday (22), the creation of a “reconciliation fund” to compensate the women affected.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will travel to Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous Danish territory, this week to participate in a ceremony in which the state will present two apologies, something Frederiksen already expressed at the end of August.

During the visit, the president will also discuss the creation of a "reconciliation fund" with Greenland's prime minister, designed to "offer individual financial compensation to Greenlandic women," Frederiksen said in a statement Monday.

From the 1960s until 1992, Danish authorities forced about 4,500 Inuit women, about half of whom were of childbearing age, to use an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) without their consent.

The goal was to reduce the birth rate of Inuit people.

Many of the women became infertile and almost all suffered physical problems or psychological disorders.

The reconciliation fund, the amount of which was not specified, could also be used to compensate other Greenlanders who have been discriminated against because of their origins, the statement said.

"We can't change what happened. But we can take responsibility, so on behalf of Denmark, I'd like to apologize," Frederiksen said.

Around 150 victims have sued the Danish state for violating their rights and are seeking compensation.

The scandal is one of several sensitive issues that compromise the Danish state's relations with the autonomous territory, such as forced adoptions or the separation of Inuit children from their families.

This Arctic territory was a colony of Denmark until 1953 and in 1979 it became an autonomous jurisdiction.

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