Forced Contraception in Greenland Violated Women’s Rights but Did Not Constitute Genocide, Experts Find

A campaign of forced contraception targeting women in Greenland during the 1960s and 1970s violated their human rights but did not meet the legal definition of genocide, according to two expert reports released Friday.

The reports examined a Danish programme in which more than 4,000 Greenlandic women were given contraception, often without their informed consent. The programme has become a major source of controversy in Greenland, where many women have described being fitted with intrauterine devices without properly understanding or agreeing to the procedures.

Both expert investigations concluded that administering contraception without valid consent violated women’s rights to respect for their private and family lives. In some cases, the treatment was also found to have amounted to degrading treatment.

The reports differed, however, over whether the contraception campaign should be considered a systematic policy. They also examined whether the programme could legally be classified as genocide, a term that carries a specific definition under international law.

The experts said they could not establish that Danish authorities had the necessary intent to destroy the Greenlandic population, in whole or in part, which is required to meet the legal threshold for genocide.

One of the reports nevertheless concluded that Denmark had breached its obligations under the United Nations Genocide Convention by failing to take appropriate action despite the risk of genocide.

The findings are likely to intensify debate over Denmark’s historical relationship with Greenland, a former Danish colony that now has broad autonomy within the Kingdom of Denmark. The contraception programme has become a symbol of the unequal treatment experienced by Greenlanders during a period when Danish authorities exercised significant influence over the territory.

For women affected by the programme, the findings provide formal recognition that their rights were violated, even as the experts rejected the genocide classification.

The reports could now add pressure for further discussion between Greenland and Denmark over accountability, recognition and possible remedies for those affected by the decades-old programme.