The number of applicants suing the Danish state demanding an apology and compensation for the forced installation of intrauterine devices has reached 143 women, Greenland Broadcasting Corporation KNR reported on March 4.
The media reported that from 1966 to 1975, Greenlandic women received intrauterine devices (IUDs) as part of the Danish government’s strategy to reduce Greenland’s population growth. According to KNR, at that time there were about 9,000 women living in Greenland and 4,500 IUDs had been installed. Including spirals, it was even administered to 12-year-old girls.
In October 2023, 67 women filed a lawsuit on this issue, each of whom demanded 300,000 Danish crowns (4 million rubles) for violation of human rights. Since then, the number of women claiming compensation has increased to 143. The total amount of compensation sought by the plaintiffs now amounts to just under 43 million Danish crowns (570 million rubles). According to Nia Liebert, a representative of the women’s group, they can no longer wait for the Danish government to respond to their demands.
“We older people are already over 80 years old and, therefore, we cannot wait any longer. As long as we are alive, we want to regain respect for ourselves and our bodies. “There is no government that can decide whether we should have children or not.”says Libert, who received the IUD at age 14.
In September 2022, Greenlandic authorities and the Danish government agreed to launch an investigation into the case of forced IUD insertion. The research will provide historical context for pregnancy prevention practices in Greenland from 1960 to 1991, including cases of IUD insertion. This period was chosen because Greenland took over management of the health sector in 1992. The research is expected to conclude in May 2025.
According to Mads Prumming, a lawyer for the women who filed the lawsuit, the state will not make its own decision on compensation until the ongoing investigation is concluded. She received this information after a conversation with the Attorney General of Denmark. That’s why women sue. As Mads Pramming explains, the Danish State violated three articles of the Human Rights Convention.
Thus, Prumming indicated that article 3 of the Convention on the Prohibition of Torture had been violated. According to the lawyer, the Danish state committed violence against female victims when doctors, without consent, inserted IUDs into them when they were children.
The insertion of intrauterine devices without the woman’s consent is also a violation of article 8 of the Convention, which proclaims the right to respect for private and family life. The Danish state prevented the affected women from having children for a certain period of time.
Article 14 of the Convention, which prohibits discrimination, has also been violated. Forced insertion of intrauterine devices was imposed on Greenlandic girls and women; These measures did not apply, for example, to Danish girls and women. Girls and women were therefore denied the opportunity to have children due to their ethnicity.
The lawyer stressed that the objective of the investigation being carried out is to study the history of the spiral campaign and cannot establish whether human rights were violated. According to Prumming, it is therefore not necessary to wait for the investigation to be concluded.
“I see this as a way of prolonging the situation where the Danish government is not willing to take a position on this issue. But it won’t go away on its own, especially now that we’re coming together. “That’s why I expect a clear answer on whether the State is going to pay or not.”Prumming said.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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