Copenhagen: Denmark on Wednesday announced that women affected by a forced contraception programme in Greenland will be able to claim 300,000 Danish kroner ($47,000) in compensation.
Between the late 1960s and 1991, Danish authorities aimed to reduce the birth rate among Greenland's Indigenous Inuit population by forcing around 4,500 women to wear a contraceptive coil -- or intrauterine device (IUD) -- without their consent.
In late September, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen travelled to Greenland's capital Nuuk to present a formal apology to victims in person.
The campaign in the vast autonomous Danish territory "has had major consequences for Greenlandic women, who have suffered both physical and psychological damage, and which to this day affects perceptions of Denmark", Danish Health Minister Sophie Lohde said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, we cannot take away the pain suffered by these women, but compensation helps to acknowledge and apologise for the experiences they have been through," Lohde added.
Just days before Frederiksen's September trip to Greenland, Denmark announced the creation of a "reconciliation fund" to compensate the affected women, as well as other Greenlanders who had suffered discrimination, but did not specify compensation amounts.
To obtain the compensation announced on Wednesday, victims must be able to "substantiate their account" and "declare on their honour that they were given the contraception without their knowledge or consent", the statement said.
The compensation scheme is expected to begin on June 1, 2026.
