The Colonial Harbour area is seen in Nuuk, Greenland on August 31, 2024. Since the first victim account went unnoticed five years ago, Denmark’s forced contraception scandal in Greenland has mushroomed and Nuuk is now urging its former colonial power to acknowledge the widespread trauma it caused.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Denmark’s forced contraception scandal in Greenland has snowballed since a victim first spoke out five years ago with the territory urging the Danish state to acknowledge the trauma it had caused.

Danish authorities between the 1960s and the 1990s forced more than 4,500 young Inuit women to wear a contraceptive coil without their or their family’s consent.

The campaign was aimed at limiting the birth rate in the Arctic territory, which had not been a Danish colony since 1953 but was still under its control.

Greenlandic, Danish and international experts have opened a probe into the legal aspects of the scandal, including violations of indigenous people’s rights and consent issues. Its conclusions are due in mid-2025.

Another enquiry mapping the historical aspects of the campaign is to present its conclusions around the same time.

The scandal is one of many sensitive topics souring relations between Denmark and Greenland.

The legal investigation “is a necessary step in order to move forward,” Greenland’s Gender Equality Minister in charge of the case, Naaja Nathanielsen, said. “Violations did take place. How can we frame it in a legal setting? That’s what is being looked into right now. Maybe genocide, maybe not,” she added.

Human rights aspect

“An investigation would not be complete without looking into the human rights aspect, the indigenous rights aspect,” Ms. Nathanielsen said.

Nearly 150 women have sued the Danish state, and a trial could take place next year, according to their lawyer Mads Pramming.

The coils rendered around half of the women sterile, and the large majority have physical and psychological scars.

“If this case… is only treated in court, that will be a major failure,” said Ms. Nathanielsen.

“We need to address this in a political way, acknowledging this is a population that is affected.”

Queen Mary of Denmark fell to the ground after being hit by an electric scooter during a royal engagement this week, as per a report in the New York Post. The 52-year-old was interacting with fans and supporters in Nuuk, Greenland alongside her kids, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, when an elderly man drove into the gathering. Queen Mary was left terrified by the experience and she lost her balance and momentarily fell to the ground. Her security personnel immediately sprang into action and stopped the scooter from going any further as soon as she got back up.

Video footage of the incident, going viral on social media, shows the Queen being struck while her two children stood just a few feet away. The Danish royal communications office later announced that Queen Mary had not been injured.

A witness told Sky News, “I could see how much it hurt her, her eyes watered immediately. It must hurt to be hit at that speed. The police immediately barricaded and removed her from the situation. It must hurt to be hit at that speed. The police immediately barricaded and removed her from the situation.”

Following the incident, the scooter driver claimed he was unsure of what caused the vehicle to lose control.

Meanwhile, Queen Mary was born in Hobart, Tasmania on February 5, 1972. She was working as an advertising executive in Australia when she met the then 34-year-old Frederik while out with friends at Sydney’s Slip Inn bar during the summer Olympics in 2000. As per a report in AFP, she only discovered later that he was the crown prince of Denmark and his group of friends was made up of other European royals — including his younger brother Prince Joachim and cousin Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.

Following several covert meetings and a long-distance romance, the pair became engaged in October 2003 and were married in Copenhagen Cathedral on May 14, 2004. They are now parents to four children: Prince Christian, 18, who will one day succeed his father as king, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 13.

 

A luxury cruise ship carrying more than 200 people is set to be stranded for days in a remote area of Greenland’s Arctic after getting wedged in the muddy seabed.

Three attempts in as many days to free the Ocean Explorer have failed, Denmark’s military’s Joint Arctic Command said, after a fishing boat had to give up pulling the large vessel out at high tide on Wednesday. The passengers are not in danger, according to the authority.

The ship, with passengers primarily from Australia, became stuck at about noon on Monday in the Alpefjord, roughly 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) northeast of Greenland’s capital, Nuuk. The closest navy vessel available to help with rescue efforts has had to reduce its speed due to bad weather and is expected to reach the scene Friday evening, later than originally expected.

Troops from Denmark’s Arctic Special Forces elite unit Sirius, which patrols the vast area by dog sleds, have visited the ship by boat and confirmed that all passengers are safe. In neighboring Iceland, the coast guard is on standby with a vessel if needed, local authorities said.

The vessel’s plight underscores the hazards of tourism in Arctic areas, where distances are vast and help often days away. Still, the majestic scenery of icebergs and the chance to spot rare creatures, such as polar bears, attract growing numbers of tourists.

The ship had at least twice tried to use high tide to float clear on its own, but the mud – a mix of sediment, sand and silt left by a nearby glacier – is creating a strong suction that’s holding it in place.

The Joint Arctic Command has also told another cruise ship in the vicinity of the Ocean Explorer to stay in the area in case the situation escalates. A Danish naval ship already at sea off the coast of southwest Greenland was diverted and was initially expected to reach the area by Friday morning, but that has now been delayed by several hours.

“The crew and passengers are in a difficult situation, but given the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is doing well,” the Joint Arctic Command said in its statement, citing reports from the Sirius troops. The patrol will stay on land in the area so they can reach the ship within 90 minutes.

A couple of people on board the ship have tested positive for Covid-19 and have isolated, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing passengers at the ship. No one is in a serious condition, the people told the newspaper. The Joint Arctic Command didn’t comment on the report.

The passengers and crew on board number 206, according to the command, and local media in Greenland have reported that about 170 are paying passengers, with rest making up the crew.

The ship is stuck offshore Greenland’s national park, the world’s largest, covering 972,000 square kilometers (375,000 square miles). It’s a protected area with animals including polar bears, musk oxen and walrus. There are no human inhabitants except for workers at weather stations and the small unit of Denmark’s Arctic Special Forces.

Greenland has extensive home rule but is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

“All passengers, the expedition team and crew onboard are safe and well,” Aurora Expeditions, the ship’s Sydney-based operator, said in a statement. “Importantly, there is no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment.”

Aurora Expeditions specializes in polar trips, including a 30-day cruise costing more than $33,000 (A$51,000) per person for viewing wildlife, such as polar bears, beluga whales and walruses, according to the its website.

Greenland, like many Arctic countries, is becoming increasingly concerned about the logistics of mounting expensive rescue operations in remote areas.

The number of cruise ships around the world’s largest island has jumped 50% in the past year to 600, Brian Jensen of the Joint Arctic Command said by phone. Last year, the Joint Arctic Command did one medical evacuation and so far this year it has done five, he said.