Denmark tried to cut back the beginning fee within the Arctic territory, as soon as its colony, through the Nineteen Sixties.
Some had been barely youngsters once they had an IUD – a type of contraception that may forestall being pregnant for as much as 10 years – inserted with out their consent.
Nevertheless, on Monday, 67 girls born in Greenland filed a request for compensation from Denmark. They’re demanding round €40,200 every.
Within the late Nineteen Sixties, Cophagen applied a contraceptive coverage to restrict births within the Arctic territory then supervised by Denmark, though it ceased being a colony in 1953.
A collection of podcasts broadcast in spring 2022 by Danish radio and tv DR revealed the dimensions of this marketing campaign at a time when Denmark and Greenland, which acquired autonomous territory standing in 2009, are exploring their previous.
An inquiry commissioned into this coverage, launched final 12 months, should publish its conclusions in 2025. However the girls need quicker redress.
“We don’t wish to look ahead to the outcomes of the investigation,” psychologist Naja Lyberth, who initiated the request for compensation, advised AFP.
“We’re getting older – the oldest amongst us, who had IUDs within the Nineteen Sixties had been born within the 40s, they’re approaching 80,” she defined. “We wish to act now”
Within the Nineteen Sixties and Seventies, some 4,500 younger Inuit underwent IUD insertion with out their consent or that of their household.
A lot of girls had been unaware of sporting a contraceptive system and, till not too long ago, Greenlandic gynaecologists discovered IUDs in girls unaware of their presence, in keeping with Lyberth.
“It’s already 100% clear that the federal government has contravened the regulation, via human rights violations and critical abuses in opposition to us,” she added.
Lyberth claims the federal government will refuse their requests pending the outcomes of the investigation – wherein case the matter can be taken to courtroom.
In 2022, six Inuit obtained apologies and compensation, greater than 70 years after being separated from their households to take part in an experiment geared toward forming a Danish-speaking elite on the island.
