During her visit to Nouk, her capital Greenlandon Wednesday (24.09.2025), the Prime Minister of Danias Mete Fredericks apologized to her country from the victims of the forced sterilizations imposed on this Danish territory.
From the late 1960s to 1992, Denmark orchestrated a birth control campaign aimed at reducing Greenland. “Today, I can only tell you one thing: Sorry for the injustice you have suffered because you were Greenlanders. Sorry for what they got and the pain that this caused you on behalf of Denmark, “Fredericken said before dozens of victims, dressed in black, who broke out in tears.
According to a recent study, at least 4,070 women – that is, one in two reproductive age – have undergone spiral placement, often without consensus and in many cases from their adolescence. The physical and psychological consequences are enormous: ectopic pregnancies, interventions, infertility, repetitive hospitalizations.
A painful memory
Among the victims, 66 -year -old Kirstine Bertelsen told AFP that this ceremony allowed her to move on “without hatred and anger”. She explained that she came “to hear her apology”, thinking about her two ectopic pregnancies, her long hospitalizations and the removal of a trumpet.
Greenland Prime Minister Yen Frederick Nielsen, however, recalled that these apologies are not enough: “We are here today because we do not accept what happened,” he said.
In early September, Fredericks had already publicly apologized. On Monday, he announced the creation of a reconciliation fund, with the aim of compensating women who were victims of forced sterilizations, as well as other Greenlanders who have been discriminated by their origin.