2023-10-03 09:41:00
Nook: 67 women from a Greenlandic tribe are set to seek compensation from the Dutch government for being subjected to birth control against their will.
In the 1960s, about 4,500 women, including teenage girls from the Inuit tribe in Greenland, were fitted with a contraceptive device known as a coil as part of population control.
The 70-year-old women have now sought compensation of 3,00,000 kroner ($42,150) each, with the ongoing investigation into the incident due to end in 2025.
A semi-autonomous territory under Denmark, Greenland was a Dutch colony until 1953. The extent of the birth control campaign was revealed through a podcast released by Dutch broadcaster DR last year.
According to records in the National Archives, between 1966 and 1970, girls as young as 13 were implanted with uterine rings (intra-uterine devices) without their knowledge or consent.
DR says the government estimates that by the end of 1969, 35 percent of women in Greenland of childbearing potential had been fitted with IUDs.
A commission appointed by the Dutch and Greenland governments to investigate the campaign will report in May 2025.
Naja Lieberth, a psychologist who took the initiative to demand compensation, said they could not wait for the results of the investigation and that action should be taken now as many of the women are approaching their 80s.
‘Severe health problems and even infertility have occurred in some girls due to the placement of large uterine rings on their bodies. “Some women, on the other hand, didn’t know they had rings until they were recently discovered by gynecologists,” Lieberth said, according to the BBC.
They accused the Dutch government of drastically reducing Greenland’s population in order to save money on welfare.
Lieberth said that since the report of the commission has not come out, the government will not be ready to pay the compensation and then it will approach the court.
Last year, Denmark apologized and paid compensation to six Inuit people who were abducted from the Inuit tribe in the 1950s to mold the Dutch-speaking elite in Greenland.
With a population of only 57,000, Greenland is the world’s largest island.
Content Highlight: Greenland women ask Denmark for compensation over involuntary birth control
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