{"id":103874,"date":"2022-07-21T10:32:20","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T08:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=103874"},"modified":"2022-07-21T10:53:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T08:53:08","slug":"denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html","title":{"rendered":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Several historical episodes have recently been at the centre of public debate in Greenland and Denmark, including adoptions of Greenlandic children by Danish families in the 60s and 70s and the so-called \u201cjudicial orphans\u201d: lack of inheritance rights for Greenlanders born from unmarried Greenlandic women to Danish men.&nbsp;Now an investigative podcast has revealed yet another example of problematic guardianship from Danish authorities in Greenland: back in the 1960\u2019s and 1970\u2019s Danish health authorities placed thousands of intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUD) in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But contrary to prior years, the Danish government now proves to be more open to launch investigations into Denmark\u2019s colonial past in Greenland. And the IUD campaign is to be part of a larger investigation of the relationship between Denmark and Greenland from the end of the Second World War until today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 1966-1974 IUD campaign<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1953 Greenland, a former colony, had become an integral part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It was then administered by the Ministry of Greenland under the Danish government and an effective modernisation process was changing the country rapidly. The mortality rate dropped. In 15 years, the birth rate increased by almost 80 percent. By the 1960s, Greenland had the world\u2019s highest birth rate, and about 50 percent of the population was under the age of 16. Approximately 25 percent of children were born outside wedlock. The construction boom was attracting a large number of Danish workers, resulting in a rise of pregnancies among young Greenlandic girls. In 1965, some 500 children were born of unmarried women, a third of them under the age of 20. In the capital, Nuuk, 50 percent of the infants were born of unmarried mothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The young mothers posed a problem for the modernisation process: the girls were intended to be educated and take part in it. Another concern for the Danish authorities was that the modernisation of Greenland would be more expensive due to the population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In light of this, a family planning campaign was initiated in 1966. An IUD program was established in 17 medical districts. Between 1966 and 1970 half of Greenland\u2019s fertile women, approximately 4.500, received IUDs, causing the birth rate to dramatically drop. The IUD campaign continued until 1974 but the number of IUDs in the 70s has not been registered so the total number is unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lowering the cost of modernization<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It is this IUD campaign that was the topic of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dr.dk\/lyd\/p1\/spiralkampagnen\">investigative podcast <em>Spiralkampagnen<\/em> (\u201cThe IUD campaign\u201d)<\/a> by two journalists from the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), Celine Klint and Anne Pilegaard Petersen. The podcast, released in May, revealed that some of the 4500 Greenlandic women and girls never gave their informed consent, and some women were even given an IUD after childbirth without their knowledge. A former doctor in Greenland, Hans J\u00f8rgen Fenger, explained that he was told by his superior at the hospital that for a period of time IUDs were placed routinely in female patients without the patient\u2019s knowledge or consent. Another source described how doctors in Greenland joked that when a woman consulted a doctor for a swollen finger, she would leave the consultation with an IUD. After the publication of the podcast a gynaecologist in Nuuk told Greenland\u2019s Broadcasting Corporation that they still today find IUDs in women who were unaware of them being there. \u201cOnly a few women who\u2019ve just given birth left the hospital without a loop, and the same was true for women who had abortions,\u201d Jens Misfeldt, a former doctor in Greenland, stated in an article in 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was the IUD and family planning campaigns motivated by a wish to protect young unmarried girls from becoming mothers? Or were they economically motivated? Did the Danish administration in Greenland wish to limit the explosive population growth to lower the cost of modernisation of Greenland? A 1970 speech in the Danish Parliament by the minister for Greenland A.C. Normann hints at the latter. \u201cThe fierce population increase meant that we had to increase our effort if we were to achieve improvements in living conditions,\u201d he said, noting that the IUD campaign had contributed to the birth rate drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cThe state took my virginity\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Naja Lyberth is a therapist specialised in trauma and a prominent voice in the debate on the IUDs. At 14 years old, she was one of thousands of young girls and women in Greenland who received an IUD. At the time, she was not yet sexually active. She remembers how all the girls in her class were told by the school doctor to go to the hospital to get an IUD. \u201cThey never presented it as a choice\u201d, she says. The next day, one by one, they received an IUD. Lyberth is certain that her parents never gave permission for the procedure, and that her dad would have stopped it had he known. \u201cThe state took my virginity\u201d, she says. After the procedure Lyberth, as many other of the Greenlandic women who have come forward, suffered from severe menstrual cramps and heavy bleeding. Some suffered complications with uterine infections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lyberth has established a Facebook-group for traumatised women who want to share their IUD stories. She has learned from them that many were unable to become pregnant due to complications after receiving the IUD. \u201cIt seems that the younger they were, the more complications and risk for infertility\u201d, she says. Some of the women in the group were 12 years old when they received an IUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"1351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_Naja-Lyberth_@DR.jpg\" alt=\"Naja Lyberth when she was 14, in traditional Greenlandic clothes, and Naja today.\" class=\"wp-image-103864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_Naja-Lyberth_@DR.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_Naja-Lyberth_@DR-730x1096.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption>Naja Lyberth was 14 years old and not yet sexually active when she received an IUD. She is now a leading voice on the damage done by the Danish authorities' policy at the time. \u00a9 DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The contraceptive devices used in Greenland prior to the IUD campaign were diaphragms and condoms. Even though the contraceptive pill had been released in 1960 in the US and in 1966 in Denmark, the pill was not deemed appropriate in Greenland. In 1966, a study in Greenland about contraceptive methods was carried out. It argued that since the pill must be taken daily and that in North Greenland the sun doesn\u2019t set in the summertime, women would be incapable of remembering to take their pill. It concluded that the summer activity of Greenlanders, who enjoyed spending two to three months in tents on fishing grounds, was not compatible with regularly taking the pill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cSilent acceptance\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The IUD campaign was never presented to the Greenlandic country council (Landsr\u00e5det) which was the highest representative political body in Greenland at the time. The council did not have any formal power but functioned as an advisory board to the Danish authorities in Greenland. The podcast documents how Danish officials prepared notes for a 1974 meeting at the United Nations defending the family planning campaign in Greenland. In the notes, the Danish officials tried to argue that since the country council did not take actions against the IUD campaign, their passivity equaled a silent acceptance. After the meeting, the UN recommended that all countries make sure to honour individuals\u2019 right to determine their own family planning. It stressed that systemised family planning should not be used as a motor to speed up a development process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, it can be difficult to grasp why no one in Greenland publicly criticised the practice that affected so many women. Maybe an explanation can be found in the composition of the country council, which had only one woman out of 13 members. Or maybe contraception and a woman\u2019s uterus was just not a topic for conversation. The women who suffered from complications due to the IUDs kept it to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The IUD campaign was not unknown to Greenlanders before the podcast was released. Professor Peter Bjerregaard from the Danish National Institute of Public Health briefly mentioned the IUD campaign in his 1991 doctor\u2019s thesis where he connected the drastic drop in Greenland\u2019s birthrate in the 60s to the IUDs and the family planning campaign. In 2019 the Greenlandic newspaper Atuagagdliutit published a story about the IUD campaign featuring Naja Lyberth. In 2021 in an article I wrote in the Greenlandic magazine Arnanut \u2013 in which Lyberth was also quoted \u2013 Kathrine B\u00f8dker, chairperson for Greenland\u2019s Gender Equality Council, was quoted saying that she knew of the IUD campaign, herself being part of the much smaller generation that followed the campaign. The article caused an uproar on social media among young Greenlanders who had never heard about the IUD campaign, and several older women bearing witness to the story. But it did not have any political implications; the Greenlandic politicians remained quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the article inspired the two DR journalists and their investigative podcast led to a call for action - signaling that times have changed, and that many Greenlanders see it as about time to confront prior colonial practices and abuse in Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A new investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Reactions to the podcast have been harsh. \u201cThe case is completely absurd and should in no way be ignored or camouflaged. Call it what it is: Genocide\u201d, Greenlandic MP in Denmark Aki-Matilda H\u00f8egh-Dam said to the Greenlandic news website sermitsiaq.AG. She argues that the IUD campaign falls under the UN definition of genocide for the crime of \u201cimposing measures intended to prevent births within the group\u201d. Greenlandic MP Doris J. Jensen said that the disclosures are of such severity that the relationship between Denmark and Greenland should be reconsidered, thereby suggesting a future Greenlandic declaration of independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government in Greenland, the two Greenlandic members of the Danish parliament as well as the Greenlandic parliament all called for a historical investigation on the IUD campaign. \u201cThe stories of the Greenlandic women have made a deep impression. The coverage by DR depicts a deeply problematic practice that seems completely incomprehensible today\u201d, Denmark\u2019s minister of Health said to DR. He promised his ministry would conduct an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spring of 2022, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen had officially apologised for the removal of 22 Greenlandic children from their parents in what was later named \u201cThe Experiment\u201d \u2013 a failed attempt to educate a new Greenlandic elite by removing the children from their parents and bringing them to Denmark to learn how to speak Danish and understand Danish culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a dramatic change from 2013 when the Danish prime minister Helle Thorning Schmidt answered \u201cWe have no need for reconciliation\u201d, to my question on whether Denmark would participate in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/43949-lessons-from-the-greenlandic-reconciliation-process.html\">the Greenlandic Reconciliation Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the National Assembly this year, Denmark and Greenland agreed upon initiating a new impartial investigation on the historic relationship between Denmark and Greenland from WWII until today. The research on the IUD campaign will now be included in this investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"articleLink articleLink--editorRecommanded articleLink--textInImage articleLink--textTop\" style=\"\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"articleLinkSurTitle\">Recommended reading<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<a class=\"articleLinkImageLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/45190-activists-demand-mental-decolonization-in-greenland.html\"><div class=\"articleLinkImageContainer \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/4b472d2e844ddb4c3d07ce9b86832a06-540x360.jpg\" class=\"articleLinkImage backgroundImageTag w-100 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/45190-activists-demand-mental-decolonization-in-greenland.html\" class=\"articleLinkTitle articleLinkTitle--default\">\r\n\t\t\tActivists demand mental decolonization in Greenland\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"content-encadre\">\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-103858 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Martine-Lind-Krebs.jpg\" alt=\"Martine Lind Krebs\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Martine-Lind-Krebs.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Martine-Lind-Krebs-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>MARTINE LIND KREBS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Martine Lind Krebs is a journalist and an anthropologist, specialising in Greenland, where she grew up. Former editor of the radio and online news on KNR, the Greenlandic Broadcasting Corporation, and the Greenlandic magazine Arnanut. Today, she works as a freelance journalist and producer of learning materials on Greenland.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":103869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[545,567],"tags":[2894,2790,2635],"ji_location":[2199,2247],"class_list":["post-103874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-memory","category-opinion","tag-colonialism","tag-forced-sterilization","tag-genocide-2","ji_location-denmark","ji_location-greenland"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1198\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Martine Lind Krebs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Martine Lind Krebs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"solivri\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865\"},\"headline\":\"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\"},\"wordCount\":1887,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"colonialism\",\"forced sterilization\",\"genocide\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Memory\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\",\"name\":\"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign - JusticeInfo.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg\",\"width\":1198,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"A hospital bed at Maniitsoq Hospital like the one where Greenlandic women in the 60s and 70s received IUDs. \u00a9 Jakob Lyberth\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Martine Lind Krebs\",\"url\":\"\/en\/?s=Martine Lind Krebs\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign - JusticeInfo.net","description":"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign","og_description":"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_published_time":"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1198,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Martine Lind Krebs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Martine Lind Krebs","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html"},"author":{"name":"solivri","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865"},"headline":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign","datePublished":"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html"},"wordCount":1887,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg","keywords":["colonialism","forced sterilization","genocide"],"articleSection":["Memory","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html","name":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign - JusticeInfo.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg","datePublished":"2022-07-21T08:32:20+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-21T08:53:08+00:00","description":"The contraceptive device IUD is at the centre of a crisis in the relationship between Denmark and Greenland. An investigative podcast has revealed that Danish health authorities in the 60s and 70s placed thousands of IUDs in Greenlandic women and girls to diminish population growth. A practice deemed today by Greenlandic politicians as a serious violation of human rights, bordering on genocide.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Greenland_hospital-bed-Maniitsoq_@Jakob-Lyberth.jpg","width":1198,"height":800,"caption":"A hospital bed at Maniitsoq Hospital like the one where Greenlandic women in the 60s and 70s received IUDs. \u00a9 Jakob Lyberth"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103874-denmark-greenland-traumatic-birth-control-campaign.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Denmark and Greenland confront a traumatic birth control campaign"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Martine Lind Krebs","url":"\/en\/?s=Martine Lind Krebs"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103874"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103880,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103874\/revisions\/103880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103874"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=103874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}