Tears and trauma: Greenlandic women recall forced contraception as a nation seeks forgiveness

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — At age 13, Katrine Petersen was fitted with a contraceptive device by Danish doctors without her consent.

She had become pregnant, and after doctors in the Greenlandic town of Maniitsoq terminated her pregnancy, they fitted her with an intrauterine contraceptive device, commonly known as an IUD, or coil.

Now aged 52 and living in Denmark, Petersen recalled being told she had been fitted with the device before leaving hospital.

“Because of my age, I didn’t know what to do,” she said tearfully. “I kept it inside me and never talked about it.”

Petersen said her trauma led to “anger, depression, and too much to drink," as she suppressed memories of her experiences and didn’t speak about it with doctors.

Later in life, after she married, she was unable to have children.

At a ceremony in Greenland 's capital of Nuuk on Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart Jens-Frederik Nielsen will offer their official apologies for their governments' roles in the mistreatment of Greenlandic Indigenous girls and women who were given invasive contraception by the Danish health authorities against their will, with cases dating back to the 1960s.

“We cannot change what has happened, but we can take responsibility and we can create the conditions for reconciliation with the past,” Frederiksen said in a statement released Monday, adding the Danish government intends to establish a reconciliation fund to financially compensate victims.

Last month, Denmark and Greenland already published apologies for their roles in the mistreatment of the women and girls just ahead of the publication of an independent investigation into the abuse.

The event comes at a difficult time with U.S. President Donald Trump exploiting divisions between Denmark and Greenland as it seeks U.S. influence, even jurisdiction over the territory.

Meanwhile, Denmark has sought to placate the independence movement in Greenland but historical abuses committed by the former colonial power have tainted their efforts at a rapprochement.

Greenland, which remains part of the Danish realm, was a colony under Denmark’s crown until 1953, when it became a province in the Scandinavian country. In 1979, the island was granted home rule, and 30 years later Greenland became a self-governing entity.

The forced contraception of Indigenous women and girls was part of centuries of Danish policies that dehumanized Greenlanders and their families.

The policies included the removal of young Inuit children from their parents to be given to Danish foster families for reeducation and controversial parental competency tests that resulted in the forced separation of Greenlandic families.

An independent investigation, published earlier this month, found Inuit victims, some 12 years old and younger, were either fitted with IUDs or given hormonal birth control injections. They were not told details about the procedure, nor did they give their consent.

Some described traumatic experiences that left them with feelings of shame as well as physical side effects, from pain and bleeding to serious infections.

While the report covered the experiences of 354 women who spoke with investigators, Danish authorities say more than 4,000 women and girls — reportedly half the fertile women in Greenland at the time — received IUDs between the 1960s and mid-1970s. It’s not known how many of those cases lacked consent.

“Of course, I’m thinking about all the women who were treated like I was,” said Petersen, who had her IUD removed earlier this year, after not speaking about her experiences for over 30 years. “I feel with my fellow women from this episode of our life.”

The alleged purpose of the forced contraception was to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancies. The population on the Arctic island was rapidly increasing at the time because of better living conditions and better health care. Greenland took over its own health care programs in 1992.

Kirstine Berthelsen, 66, who nowadays lives in Copenhagen, will attend Wednesday's event in Nuuk. She believes she was 14 when she was fitted with an IUD in Greenland. She recalls being taken to a hospital, but not being given a reason why. Later, she remembers she was in “endless pain.”

At age 34, she gave birth to a son, but believes two subsequent failed pregnancies were a result of complications caused by the contraception.

“Of course, I am angry at the Danish state because of this act,” Berthelsen said, as she packed a suitcase for her flight to Greenland. “I wanted to join, so I’ve booked a one-way ticket to Nuuk.”

For Berthelsen, now a retiree, the official apology comes at “the right time."

“I am ready for a reconciliation, because it will help me,” she said. “It will personally be a big event for me, and I’m sure it will ease.”