Indigenous women in Greenland sue Denmark over involuntary contraception in the 1960s and 1970s

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A group of Indigenous women in Greenland has sued Denmark for forcing them to be fitted with intrauterine contraceptive devices in the 1960s and 1970s and demanded total compensation of nearly $6.3 million). The 143 Inuit women say Danish health authorities violated their human rights when they fitted them with the devices, commonly known as coils. Some of the women — including many who were teenagers at the time — were not aware of what happened or did not consent to the intervention. The purpose was allegedly to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancies.