– Firstly, we had an IUD inserted without knowing it, and in that way we have been sterilized for a shorter or longer time, moreover, there was very poor aftercare – many of us went to the doctor with pain, internal bleeding and stomach infections, but was not taken seriously. That’s what Greenlandic Naja Lyberth says, who was the first woman to come out and tell her story. Danish authorities are said to have been concerned about the costs of a population increase in Greenland and had Danish doctors insert IUDs in fertile women, many without their consent, or the women knowing about it, according to DR. Naja Lyberth was confirmed in 1976. The same year she got an IUD. – For several, it has ended up that they have had their uterus removed, lost the ability to have children or had other physical late effects, says Naja Lyberth. – I could not fight against Naja Lyberth was 14 years old when she had an IUD inserted by a Danish doctor in Maniitsoq in 1976. Without her choosing it herself. – I couldn’t fight back. I was not brought up to speak out against the authorities. I wish I had done it, but I couldn’t as a 14-year-old, says Naja. Naja Lyberth says the spiral in her uterus felt like a knife. – It felt like an assault. That the state took my virginity, she says almost 50 years later. Photo: Peter Langkilde / DR The effects of the spiral were often trauma, pain and discomfort. The spiral, of the Lippes Loop type, was far more painful than today’s spiral variants. – It was hell. I had this foreign body inside me for several years. I had to walk home from school because of severe period pains. It was so painful. I had gotten my period before the IUD, but this was something else. After the IUD, it just hurt like crazy, Naja remembers. Greenland’s spiral campaign Source: Danmarks Radio (DR) Up through the 1950s and 1960s, the population of Greenland increases. The number of newborns peaked in 1966, when 1,781 children were born – an increase of almost 80 per cent in 15 years. At the request of the Government of Greenland and the Norwegian Health Authority, 4,500 spirals will be placed in a large part of the 9,000 within five years the fertile women who live in Greenland at all times. The law is changed so that doctors in Greenland can guide young girls from the age of 15 about contraception – without the consent of their parents. Then Minister of Greenland Arnold. C. Normann says in a speech to the Folketing in 1970 that the birth rate is on the way down again, and that this is not least due to the spiral. The Danish state understands that it risks receiving criticism for the spirals in Greenland at a UN conference. At the conference, there is harsh criticism of family planning in formerly colonized countries such as Greenland, and the UN asks that everyone be allowed to decide how many children they want and when. A research team will uncover what happened in the so-called spiral case. The researchers will investigate the extent of the case, the decision-making process behind it and uncover the experiences of the women involved. The results are expected to come in 2025. 67 Greenlandic women are demanding NOK 300,000 each in compensation for having an IUD inserted in the 60s and 70s – against their will. Show more Investigated by a research team The summons from these women comes before a research team from Greenland and Denmark have finished investigating the legal basis for spiral insertions in Greenland. – I believe there is enough documentation that it can already be established that some violations have occurred, says the woman’s defender Mads Pramming to P1 Morgen. He represents the 67 women and has delivered the summons to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. According to Pramming, the claim is set at DKK 300,000 in compensation based on the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. Danmarks Radio (DR) was the first to break the news about the subpoena. Contraception with spiral Photo: DR Lippes Loop is a contraceptive that first became available in 1962. It was used frequently to drive down the birth rate in Greenland until the end of the 20th century. Lippes Loop is placed directly in the uterus and is shaped like a spiral. Thus, it has also given its name to the form of contraception itself. It works as a contraceptive because it is a foreign body in the uterus, so the body tries to repel it. This also rejects sperm and fertilized eggs. Today, the smaller, t-shaped copper coils and hormone coils are primarily used. The copper in a copper IUD prevents the sperm from reaching the cervix, while the hormones in a hormonal IUD ensure that the sperm do not enter the cervix. Both types of spirals are brought up in a folded state in a thin plastic tube. Then they unfold. Today’s IUDs are much easier and gentler to set up and can also be used by women who have not had children yet. Needs speed Mads Pramming believes that the compensation case and the research can go on at the same time. He points out that many of the women he represents are older and therefore cannot wait too long for a decision. – We risk having to wait for something that will drag on for years, which really only establishes what we already know, namely that it was a campaign and a desire to reduce population growth in Greenland, he says. This is what a Lippes Loop coil looks like when it is pulled out of the packaging. Photo: Washington Area Spark / Flickr The research team’s investigation was originally supposed to be completed in October 2024, but has been delayed due to last year’s general election in Denmark and difficulties in finding a qualified research team. This means that the team’s research will not be completed until May 2025. Aaja Chemnitz is a member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Greenlandic government party IA (Inuit Ataqatigiit). She believes that the research and the compensation claim from the women must be seen as two parallel tracks. – It is important to know what has happened both politically and socially. And that is what the research will give us a picture of in 2025, she says. However, she does not believe that they are prerequisites for each other, but believes that they support an overall picture. DR has also created a podcast series in five episodes about the Spiral campaign. You can listen to it here. Investigation: More than 4,500 women received IUDs An investigation DR presented in May 2022 showed that more than 4,500 Greenlandic women and girls were given IUDs between 1960 and 1991. This corresponds to approximately half of all Greenlandic women of reproductive age at that time. Most did not consent to the operation, and in several cases the parents were not informed. Several women have said that it took decades before they discovered the IUDs they had inside them. Wants the state to apologize Defense attorney Mads Pramming says the whole case is about the state apologizing and acknowledging that what happened was wrong. – That’s why money is also required, because that way the state can show that it wants to try to sort things out again, he says. Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde (V) made the following statement to DR: – It is a deeply unhappy case, and the women’s stories make a big impression on me. It is important that we get to the bottom of what happened, and therefore a research team is currently conducting an impartial investigation.
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Women from Greenland sue the Danish state – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
