Denmark plans payout for Greenlandic women affected by IUD scandal

Denmark intends to pay reparations to Greenlandic women who were fitted with contraceptive coils by Danish doctors and to other people in its former colony who were subjected to “systematic discrimination because they are Greenlanders”, the Danish prime minister said yesterday.

- Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent

In a historic move for relations between Copenhagen and Nuuk, Mette Frederiksen said she would discuss a planned “reconciliation fund” when she visited Greenland tomorrow for an event to mark Denmark’s official apology for the IUD (intrauterine device) scandal.

A statement released by her office said the government wanted “to establish a reconciliation fund that can provide individual financial compensation to Greenlandic women in the IUD case and to other Greenlanders who have been subjected to failure and systematic discrimination because they are Greenlanders”.

Shortly afterwards, the Danish national appeals board announced it was reversing a decision to separate a Greenlandic mother from her newborn daughter, in a case that had shocked even seasoned campaigners for Inuit rights.

Ivana Nikoline Brønlund, who last month was separated from her daughter one hour after she was born following controversial “parenting competence” tests long criticised as racist, said she was “completely speechless”. She wrote on social media: “My heart is whole again ... Oh how I can't wait to have my dear daughter in MY arms.”