According to an independent investigation's findings, the Inuit victims, many of them teenagers at the time, were either fitted with intrauterine contraceptive devices, known as IUDs or coils, or given a hormonal birth control injection. They were not told details about the procedure, or did not give their consent.
The victims described traumatic experiences that left some with feelings of shame as well as physical side effects, ranging from pain and bleeding to serious infections.
The governments of Denmark and Greenland officially apologised in a statement last month for their roles in the historic mistreatment in an apparent attempt to get ahead of the highly anticipated report. An official apology event in Greenland's capital is set for September 24.
Nearly 150 Inuit women last year sued Denmark and filed compensation claims against its health ministry, saying Danish health authorities violated their human rights. That case remains ongoing.
While Tuesday's report covers the experiences of more than 350 women who came forward to speak to the investigators, Danish authorities say more than 4000 women and girls — reportedly half the fertile women in Greenland at the time — received IUDs between the 1960s and mid-1970s.
The alleged purpose was to limit population growth in Greenland by preventing pregnancies. The population on the Arctic island was rapidly increasing at the time because of better living conditions and better health care.
Greenland took over its own health care programs in 1992.
The investigation's conclusion comes as Greenland is in the headlines alongside US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said he seeks jurisdiction over Greenland. He has not ruled out a military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island.
The leaders of Denmark and Greenland say the island is not for sale. Denmark's foreign minister recently summoned the top US diplomat in the country for talks after the main national broadcaster reported that at least three people with connections to Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.
Greenland, which remains part of the Danish realm, was a colony under Denmark's crown until 1953, when it became a province in the Scandinavian country. In 1979, the island was granted home rule, and 30 years later Greenland became a self-governing entity.
The forced contraception of Indigenous women and girls was part of centuries of Danish policies that dehumanised Greenlanders and their families.
The policies included the removal of young Inuit children from their parents to be given to Danish foster families for re-education and controversial parental competency tests that resulted in the forced separation of Greenlandic families.
