Forced contraception of women in Greenland

From the 1960s through the 1990s, Danish physicians forced contraception onto thousands of Greenlandic Inuit women and girls, often as young as 12 years old, by placing intrauterine devices (IUDs) in them without consent, under the direction of the Danish government.

The purpose of the campaign was to reduce the birth rate in Greenland. Some cases also occurred after the responsibility of the health care system was transferred to the Greenland government in 1991. Allegations continued into the 2000s, with the most recent reported cases in 2018.

While Greenlandic politicians Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, Mimi Karlsen and former Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede have described the birth control campaign as genocide, Danish jurist Frederik Harhoff described the campaign as an injustice but lacking genocidal intent. Greenland's Human Rights Council stated the campaign violated existing privacy regulations.

In 2022, the Danish and Greenlandic governments agreed to hold a two-year investigation into the campaign, though some activists have spoken against the investigation's limited scope. In 2023, the investigation formally began, and 67 women sued the Danish government. The investigation is scheduled to conclude in 2026. In September 2025, the report was released. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen have formally apologized for the case.