Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has issued the country's first apology for a scandal in which thousands of Greenlandic girls and women were fitted with contraceptive coils without their consent. Describing the practice as 'systemic discrimination', Frederiksen said the women suffered 'both physical and psychological harm' because they were Greenlandic.
The apology, made jointly with Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, covers cases up to 1992. Nielsen apologised for cases after that date. The scandal is believed to have affected 4,500 women and girls between 1966 and 1970, some as young as 12. Greenland's former prime minister Múte B Egede has called the IUD scandal 'genocide'.
Frederiksen said: 'Even though we do not have the full picture, it makes a great impression on the government that so many Greenlandic women unanimously report that they have been subjected to abuse by the Danish healthcare system. We cannot change what has happened. But we can take responsibility. Therefore, on behalf of Denmark, I would like to say: Sorry.'
Separately, 143 Greenlandic women have sued the Danish state for 43m Danish kroner, alleging human rights violations. Bula Larsen, one of the plaintiffs, was 14 when she was forcibly fitted with an IUD. She said the apology gives her 'peace in my mind to finally close this dark chapter in my life'.
Nielsen said his government has been working on a compensation scheme since January. The apology comes ahead of a long-awaited investigation into the IUD case, expected in September. Some have questioned the timing, as it came hours after Denmark summoned the US charge d'affaires over an alleged influence campaign in Greenland.
