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UN human rights experts on Wednesday urged Denmark and Greenland to ensure accountability and the rights of Inuit women at the centre of their response to the decades-long use of contraception without consent in Greenland.
The statement comes as Denmark and Greenland continue to address the forced contraception case, in which Greenlandic Inuit women and girls were given intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent. Some of those affected were children.
Denmark and Greenland established an independent expert inquiry into the human rights aspects of the contraception case. The inquiry examined events beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the present, including whether universal human rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples were violated and whether the conduct could meet the international legal definition of genocide.
The inquiry ultimately produced two separate reports after two members of the original four-person expert group withdrew over professional disagreements and prepared their own report.
One report examined the human rights aspects of contraceptive practices in Kalaallit Nunaat since 1960 whereas the second report took a legal, psychological and intersectional approach. The two reports differed in their assessment of the evidence and, importantly, of what conclusions can be drawn about the purpose and organization of the contraception programme. However, the reports noted that women and girls were subjected to contraception without consent does not, but this does not, by itself, necessarily establish that the conduct was carried out pursuant to a specific government policy of population reduction or that it meets the legal definition of genocide.
A 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples described the IUD campaign as part of a history of policies affecting Inuit people in Greenland. The report stated that approximately 4,500 women and girls received IUDs during the campaign, representing roughly half of Greenland’s women of childbearing age at the time. According to testimony received by the Special Rapporteur, some girls were taken for what they believed were routine medical examinations before an IUD was inserted without their consent or that of their parents.
A subsequent 2026 UN report placed the Greenland case within a global pattern of violations of Indigenous women’s sexual and reproductive rights. It argues that control over Indigenous women’s reproduction has historically been used as a means of exercising power over Indigenous peoples. The report specifically identifies non-consensual contraceptive interventions as a form of reproductive control and stresses that reproductive rights include the right to make decisions about one’s own body freely and based on informed consent.
The IUD, commonly known as a coil, is a contraceptive device inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. According to the UN, the practice began in the 1960s and affected thousands of Inuit women and girls. Some women have reported serious physical and psychological consequences, including pain, infection, reproductive complications and infertility.
Denmark and Greenland have already taken steps toward providing redress. Their governments issued public apologies and established compensation schemes for affected women. Denmark’s compensation legislation provides for a payment of DKK 300,000 to eligible women who received contraception without consent in Greenland or Denmark during the period covered by the Danish scheme.
The Danish scheme entered into force on September 1, 2026. Applications can be submitted in Danish or Greenlandic, with the legislation providing for applications until September 1, 2028.
The UN experts, however, have stressed that financial compensation cannot substitute for truth and accountability. They have also urged authorities to ensure that compensation is accessible in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways and that Inuit women with disabilities are not excluded.
The post UN experts urge truth and accountability in Greenland’s forced contraception case appeared first on JURIST - News.
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The statement comes as Denmark and Greenland continue to address the forced contraception case, in which Greenlandic Inuit women and girls were given intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent. Some of those affected were children.
Denmark and Greenland established an independent expert inquiry into the human rights aspects of the contraception case. The inquiry examined events beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the present, including whether universal human rights and the rights of Indigenous peoples were violated and whether the conduct could meet the international legal definition of genocide.
The inquiry ultimately produced two separate reports after two members of the original four-person expert group withdrew over professional disagreements and prepared their own report.
One report examined the human rights aspects of contraceptive practices in Kalaallit Nunaat since 1960 whereas the second report took a legal, psychological and intersectional approach. The two reports differed in their assessment of the evidence and, importantly, of what conclusions can be drawn about the purpose and organization of the contraception programme. However, the reports noted that women and girls were subjected to contraception without consent does not, but this does not, by itself, necessarily establish that the conduct was carried out pursuant to a specific government policy of population reduction or that it meets the legal definition of genocide.
A 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples described the IUD campaign as part of a history of policies affecting Inuit people in Greenland. The report stated that approximately 4,500 women and girls received IUDs during the campaign, representing roughly half of Greenland’s women of childbearing age at the time. According to testimony received by the Special Rapporteur, some girls were taken for what they believed were routine medical examinations before an IUD was inserted without their consent or that of their parents.
A subsequent 2026 UN report placed the Greenland case within a global pattern of violations of Indigenous women’s sexual and reproductive rights. It argues that control over Indigenous women’s reproduction has historically been used as a means of exercising power over Indigenous peoples. The report specifically identifies non-consensual contraceptive interventions as a form of reproductive control and stresses that reproductive rights include the right to make decisions about one’s own body freely and based on informed consent.
The IUD, commonly known as a coil, is a contraceptive device inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. According to the UN, the practice began in the 1960s and affected thousands of Inuit women and girls. Some women have reported serious physical and psychological consequences, including pain, infection, reproductive complications and infertility.
Denmark and Greenland have already taken steps toward providing redress. Their governments issued public apologies and established compensation schemes for affected women. Denmark’s compensation legislation provides for a payment of DKK 300,000 to eligible women who received contraception without consent in Greenland or Denmark during the period covered by the Danish scheme.
The Danish scheme entered into force on September 1, 2026. Applications can be submitted in Danish or Greenlandic, with the legislation providing for applications until September 1, 2028.
The UN experts, however, have stressed that financial compensation cannot substitute for truth and accountability. They have also urged authorities to ensure that compensation is accessible in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways and that Inuit women with disabilities are not excluded.
The post UN experts urge truth and accountability in Greenland’s forced contraception case appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.