Mountains at Ofjord, Northeast Greenland National Park. Source: Flickr, GRID-Arendal, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The DR podcast The Spiral Campaign reveals how thousands of girls and women in Greenland had IUDs inserted from 1966 to 1975 as part of the Danish authorities’ strategy to reduce Greenland’s population growth.
According to DR, 4,500 IUDs were inserted from 1966 to 1970.
At that time, there were 9,000 fertile women in Greenland.
Several women say that the IUDs were forced on them and that they experienced it as an assault.
In September 2022, the Greenland Government and the Danish government agreed to launch an investigation into the IUD case. The investigation will uncover the historical context of contraception practices in Greenland from 1960 to 1991, including the IUD case. Greenland took back the health sector in 1992.
The investigation is expected to be completed on September 1, 2025.
In October 2023, 67 women from the IUD case allied themselves with lawyer Mads Pramming from Ehmer Pramming Advokater and demanded an apology and compensation from the Danish state.
In March 2024, the number of women demanding compensation has now grown to 143 women, each demanding DKK 300,000 in compensation.
The women are now suing the Danish state, as according to Mads Pramming, the state will only take a position on the compensation claim after the ongoing investigation is complete.
Naja Lyberth was the first to talk about getting an IUD without consent.
On Wednesday last week, the apology that Naja Lyberth, Helga Zeeb and Emma Kuko have been waiting for landed. But the apology brings both joy and unpleasant memories.
Apologise. A single word with great meaning, which was aimed at the women from the IUD scandal earlier this week. For several years, women who in the 1960s and 70s were given an IUD without their consent have demanded an apology from the Danish state.
And it landed on Wednesday in a press release from the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen.
“We cannot change what has happened. But we can take responsibility. Therefore, on behalf of Denmark, I would like to say: Sorry,” said Mette Frederiksen in the press release.
Several women have said after the IUD case that they have also been given involuntary contraception after Greenland took over responsibility for the health sector in 1992. The National Medical Officer is aware of 15 cases.
The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the Chairman of the Greenlandic Parliament, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, are now apologising to the women affected by the IUD case. They are doing so in a joint press release. The apology will take place in Greenland after the research group has submitted the impartial report on the case.
For Naja Lyberth, who was the first to speak out about getting an IUD without consent, the apology came as a big surprise. She received the news through the media just over half an hour before she sat down in Qanorooq’s study.
“Of course I am incredibly happy, also on behalf of my sisters. Those of us who are affected are now between 50 and 90 years old and cannot wait any longer,” she said in Qanorooq.
Mette Frederiksen has previously said that she would wait for the ongoing IUD investigation before making a possible apology. But a few days before the report is due on September 1, the apology came.
The IUD Felt Like Knives
For Naja Lyberth, who had an IUD inserted at the age of 14, the IUD was a trauma to her body.
It happened in 1976 in Maniitsoq, where a Danish district doctor told Naja Lyberth and the other girls in her class that they should have an IUD.
“The IUD scandal, which DR uncovered in 2022, is about how thousands of women—including Naja Lyberth—were given IUDs in the 1960s and 70s as part of the Danish authorities’ strategy to reduce the Danish population growth.”
Several women have told of painful IUD insertions that had major consequences. The women were as young as 12 when they had their IUDs inserted.
Since the case began, the women have demanded an apology from the Danish state. In 2024, 143 of the women from the IUD case sued the Danish state. They are demanding a total of 43 million kroner in compensation for violations of human rights.
Violations Of Human Rights
And it is precisely the issue of violations of human rights that Naja Lyberth still wants to see addressed by the Danish side.
“We know that many people cannot have children after having IUDs, and that we suffered physical damage because we had IUDs inserted as children. IUDs were also inserted after births and abortions. This has had consequences both physically and psychologically. Therefore, we would of course like to hear whether this is recognised as a real violation of our rights,” says Naja Lyberth in the interview with Qanorooq.
For Helga Zeeb, the IUD had major consequences for her future life.
One of those who has experienced childlessness is Helga Zeeb. She was 15 years old when she had an IUD inserted without consent in 1987.
“I have often been sad that I have not been able to have children. But also that this was done to me without me being able to defend myself. Of course, it has had major consequences for me. If I had not been exposed to this, I might have had children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, my greatest wish has never been fulfilled,” says Helga Zeeb.
That’s why there were also great emotions at stake on Wednesday when the apology landed.
“It was a tough day. I was sad, mad, but also happy that we were finally being told sorry,” she says.
The Memories Came Back
But it wasn’t just Mette Frederiksen who said sorry on Wednesday.
The chairman of the Greenland’s government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, also apologised in the same press release on behalf of Greenland to the women who have experienced receiving involuntary contraception after 1992, when Greenland took over the health sector.
The National Medical Board is aware of 15 cases after 1992.
One of those who has had an IUD inserted without consent in recent times is Emma Kuko.
It was in 2019 that Emma Kuko discovered she had an IUD. She has reportedly had an IUD for nine years without knowing it.
In 2019, the doctor discovered during a gynecological examination that Emma Kuko had an IUD. An IUD that she herself had no memory of having installed.
She herself believes that the IUD was installed in connection with a surgical abortion, where she was under anesthesia, in 2010. This means that Emma Kuko has reportedly had an IUD for nine years without knowing it. The IUD is also not to be found in Emma Kuko’s medical records, which KNR has seen, except in 2019, when it was discovered.
The experience still occupies a lot of space today.
“I was upset the day the apology came. The memories came back. And, of course, you can’t help but be mad about what happened,” she says.
In the apology, Jens-Frederik Nielsen emphasises once again that the Greenland Government will provide compensation to the affected women who have received contraception without consent after 1992.
Wants Compensation
However, whether the Danish state will meet the compensation claim and provide compensation to the affected women in the IUD case is still unknown.
Naja Lyberth hopes that the issue will be resolved as soon as possible. The trial between the women and the Danish state is tentatively scheduled for 2027.
“There are a lot of us who have not been able to have children and who have suffered permanent damage. Of course, that cannot be undone, but through an apology and compensation we can get some relief, especially psychologically.”
“If there is a concrete apology and we receive compensation, I would be very grateful,” she says.
The issue of compensation was also raised in an interview with the Prime Minister on Wednesday.
“I respect the ongoing legal cases, and I do not interfere in them,” said Mette Frederiksen and continued:
“Serious mistakes have been made, and I am deeply touched by the fates and women who are affected by this and who have paid a high price. So I think it is the right thing to do to issue an apology, but also to have time to now, together with the Greenlandic government, how we can best move forward as Greenland, Denmark and as a commonwealth.”
The apology will be marked in Greenland after the impartial investigation of the spiral case has been published on September 1.
Source: KNR (in Greenlandic)