Did Denmark commit genocide in Greenland? Report on forced contraceptions expected

Naja Lyberth, psychologist and survivor of the Danish IUD campaign used against Greenland's women, in front of a painting featuring an uterus and an intrauterine device (IUD), in Nuuk, Greenland. For nearly two years, Greenland has been examining one of the darkest chapters in its history with Denmark: Copenhagen’s campaign of forced contraception targeting Inuit women.

Copenhagen, Denmark - A Greenlandic commission is to present a highly anticipated report Friday to determine whether Denmark's forced contraception of thousands of the Arctic island's indigenous Inuit constituted a genocide.

The forced contraception campaign between the 1960s and 1990 is one of the darkest chapters in Greenland's history with its former colonial master, Denmark.

Once the conclusions are presented, Greenland's government will decide how to move forward.

"For us, it's about trying to understand our history," Naaja Nathanielsen, a member of parliament representing Greenland in Denmark's parliament, told AFP.

"Others may feel that we should simply keep quiet about this and try to be conciliatory, because of the United States' aggressiveness toward Greenland."

Nathanielsen announced the creation of the commission, tasked with shedding light on the legal implications of the campaign, in August 2024 when she was Greenland's minister of justice and gender equality.

During the 1960s to 1990, more than 4,000 Greenlandic women were forced to wear a contraceptive coil -- or intrauterine device (IUD) -- in the vast majority of cases without their consent or that of their parents if they were minors.

Greenland, a Danish colony for three centuries and now an autonomous territory, still has a complicated relationship with Copenhagen.

Despite many thorny issues between them, both Copenhagen and Nuuk have presented a united front rejecting US President Donald Trump's threats to take over Greenland.

"Everything that is happening between Denmark and Greenland now is scrutinised," said historian Astrid Andersen, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).

"There's this pressure on the relationship so of course, when we start talking about genocide, that increases the pressure.

"But everyone in Greenland has been very clear that this tragic case should not be used to legitimise other political purposes internationally."

The commission's four appointed experts were unable to agree on which approach to take and ended up writing two reports, submitted nearly six months behind schedule.