🔗 Share this article Inuit Females Achieve Legal Triumph over Battle against the Danish State regarding Forced IUD Injustice. Survivors from a past campaign in which numerous of Inuit women and girls were forcibly fitted using contraceptive coils without their knowledge or consent have claimed a win in their court battle with Copenhagen. Officials have announced that they are now entitled to compensation via a settlement package. Parliamentary Settlement Finalized Folketinget, along with the government, finalized a deal that entitles an estimated 4,500 Greenlandic women the right to seek kr. 300,000 (£35,000) per person. The decision follows a three-year battle by 143 claimants who filed a lawsuit seeking damages for the pain and suffering they had endured, arguing it constituted a breach of fundamental personal rights. Colonial Context Denmark administered the territory as a colony until 1953 maintaining control of the island's medical services into the late 20th century. Earlier this year, after years where it did not address these actions, the government made an expression of regret. The prime minister expressed sorrow over the “institutional prejudice” against women and girls within the state medical apparatus. “These actions caused major consequences on the affected women who have experienced not only physical but also mental trauma,” said a senior official. Compensation Procedure Details Authorities clarified those who were given contraception without their knowledge or consent during a thirty-one year period can apply for compensation starting next year. The law will come into force in June. According to results of an impartial inquiry into medical procedures from that era, an estimated four and a half thousand women may be eligible for compensation. For eligibility, applicants must: Submit a “credible report” of the incident. Have lived in Greenland throughout the qualifying period. State on oath that they possessed no knowledge nor gave permission for it to occur. Perspectives of Victims A plaintiffs, recalling being 14 when she was instructed to go to the hospital without explanation, said it as feeling a violation. “Our activism as speakers and interviewees has been effective,” she stated. “We started two years ago and now within three years we have secured an apology and compensation.” Another perspective expressed satisfaction, stating, “We are happy. Like my mother said: we won.” While there is a view the compensation should have been greater, they expressed contentment regarding the recognition of past events. Ministerial Reactions An Inuit minister called the compensation as “long overdue”. She emphasized, “It is not primarily financial. It is about recognition of the hurt and the profound implications.” The relevant health minister acknowledged the scandal represent a “dark chapter in our joint past”, adding that compensation “cannot remove the suffering from the women” but it “helps to recognize and apologise for what they endured.”
Survivors from a past campaign in which numerous of Inuit women and girls were forcibly fitted using contraceptive coils without their knowledge or consent have claimed a win in their court battle with Copenhagen. Officials have announced that they are now entitled to compensation via a settlement package. Parliamentary Settlement Finalized Folketinget, along with the government, finalized a deal that entitles an estimated 4,500 Greenlandic women the right to seek kr. 300,000 (£35,000) per person. The decision follows a three-year battle by 143 claimants who filed a lawsuit seeking damages for the pain and suffering they had endured, arguing it constituted a breach of fundamental personal rights. Colonial Context Denmark administered the territory as a colony until 1953 maintaining control of the island's medical services into the late 20th century. Earlier this year, after years where it did not address these actions, the government made an expression of regret. The prime minister expressed sorrow over the “institutional prejudice” against women and girls within the state medical apparatus. “These actions caused major consequences on the affected women who have experienced not only physical but also mental trauma,” said a senior official. Compensation Procedure Details Authorities clarified those who were given contraception without their knowledge or consent during a thirty-one year period can apply for compensation starting next year. The law will come into force in June. According to results of an impartial inquiry into medical procedures from that era, an estimated four and a half thousand women may be eligible for compensation. For eligibility, applicants must: Submit a “credible report” of the incident. Have lived in Greenland throughout the qualifying period. State on oath that they possessed no knowledge nor gave permission for it to occur. Perspectives of Victims A plaintiffs, recalling being 14 when she was instructed to go to the hospital without explanation, said it as feeling a violation. “Our activism as speakers and interviewees has been effective,” she stated. “We started two years ago and now within three years we have secured an apology and compensation.” Another perspective expressed satisfaction, stating, “We are happy. Like my mother said: we won.” While there is a view the compensation should have been greater, they expressed contentment regarding the recognition of past events. Ministerial Reactions An Inuit minister called the compensation as “long overdue”. She emphasized, “It is not primarily financial. It is about recognition of the hurt and the profound implications.” The relevant health minister acknowledged the scandal represent a “dark chapter in our joint past”, adding that compensation “cannot remove the suffering from the women” but it “helps to recognize and apologise for what they endured.”