Denmark PM apologises to Greenlanders over forced birth control
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has apologised to Greenlandic women who were victims of a decades-long involuntary birth control campaign, which has left islanders with deep scars and strained relations with their former colonial power.
Thousands of women and girls as young as 12 were fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their knowledge or consent between 1966 and 1991, the year Greenland was given authority over its healthcare system.
The apology marks another step in Denmark’s accelerated efforts to repair ties with Greenland, following US President Donald Trump’s recent vows to assert control over the vast, resource-rich Arctic island for security reasons.
“The apology I offer today is not only about the past. It is also about our present and our future. About the mutual trust that must exist between us,” Frederiksen told victims, some of whom wiped tears from their faces.
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