Two expert reports on Denmark’s historic forced contraception campaign in Greenland were presented in Nuuk on Friday. They conclude that the campaign violated Greenlandic women’s human rights, but did not meet the legal definition of genocide.
The two reports were made public at a press conference at 4 p.m. on August 28, 2026. DR followed the presentation in a liveblog, framed around the question of whether Denmark committed genocide in Greenland.
Per DR, both documents set out to establish whether human rights were breached in connection with the Danish spiral campaign. The campaign involved the fitting of intrauterine devices, known in Danish as spiraler, on Greenlandic women and girls.
Rights violated, but not genocide
As reported by Reuters, the reports find that the Danish-led campaign violated the human rights of Greenlandic women. The expert assessments conclude that the practice does not fall within the legal definition of genocide.
The conclusions concern one of the most contested chapters in the modern relationship between Denmark and Greenland. The reports assess the campaign against human rights standards and international law.
An expert group that could not agree
According to KNR, an expert group of four specialists in law and psychology was appointed to carry out the assessment. Their mandate covered both the genocide question and other possible human rights violations.
KNR and Arctic Today both report that disagreement within the group meant the work was split. Instead of one joint document, the experts produced two separate reports.
Why the reports arrive now
Both KNR and Arctic Today describe the reports as long delayed. Their publication on Friday, August 28, 2026, in Nuuk brings the expert group’s work to a close.
The presentation took place in the Greenlandic capital, with the conclusions released publicly at the press conference. DR’s liveblog carried the presentation as it unfolded.
The spiral campaign has been the subject of investigation and political debate in both Denmark and Greenland in recent years. The documents published on Friday address the legal characterization of the campaign rather than the day-to-day handling of individual cases.
