Copenhagen, October 18 (QNA) - A report revealed that, during the period between 1966 and 1970, Danish doctors committed professional abuses against thousands of women and girls in Greenland by depriving them of childbearing by placing intrauterine device (IUD), the coil, in their wombs to prevent them from pregnancy, as part of a secret medical program known as "birth control".

A recent podcast called Spiralkampagnen found records indicating that IUDs were implanted in the wombs of up to 4,500 women and girls in Greenland, nearly half of whom were fertile at the time. The records point out that these procedures continued until the mid-1970s.

Among those affected were girls as young as 12, with many of them publicly stating that they had not been properly informed, according to a BBC report on these violations. The report revealed that some of the affected women suspected that the coil was the reason why they were unable to have children.

Following the disclosure of this secret medical program, the affected women launched a Facebook group to allow women to share their common experiences and help each other deal with the trauma. More than 70 women joined the group, while the Danish authorities interacted with the disclosed "historic scandal" of birth control that their physicians carried out for many years on a large number of Greenlanders.

In response to Spiralkampagnen, Denmark formed a committee that will investigate the contraceptive practices implemented by the country's health authorities between 1960 and 1991 in both Greenland and its local schools that had female students from Greenland.

In a related context, Danish Minister of Health, Magnus Heunicke said, in statements, that the investigation would shed light on the decisions leading up to the practice, and how it was carried out. He added that the physical and emotional pain that they have experienced is still there today.

Commenting on the practices, historians suggested that the practices were most likely attributed to financial and colonial motives in the first place. Historian at Copenhagen University Soeren Rud said that there was a clear interest in trying to limit population growth, as this would reduce the challenges of providing housing and welfare services.

(QNA)