Legally fatherless

Historical Danish laws

Between 1914 and either 1963 (Kitaa) or 1974 (Avannaa and Tunu), Danish law deemed the children of unmarried Greenlandic women legally fatherless (Danish: juridisk faderløse): having no right to know or inherit from their biological fathers. Many of the fathers were Danish, so the laws, in effect, racially segregated Danish men from their responsibilities and duties in Greenlandic society. Legally-imposed racial segregation existed in some form in Greenland throughout Danish colonial rule, including laws prohibiting miscegenation. An investigative report, commissioned by the Danish government, was released in 2011; three years later, legally fatherless children were awarded the right to sue for paternity and inherit property from their fathers.

Background and laws

Prior to and during the period of the legal fatherlessness laws, Denmark was the colonial ruler of Greenland.[1] Throughout its rule, Denmark instituted a system racially segregating Danish society from Greenlandic society, including laws prohibiting miscegenation and certain kinds of relationships between Danish men and Greenlandic Inuit women.[1] Throughout the twentieth century, but particularly in the 1950s and 1960s,[2] Danish men temporarily settled in Greenland and fathered children with Greenlandic women.[1] Since their settlement was temporary, many men ultimately left behind children without fathers.[3]

Early colonial laws (including a 1782 rule and an 1873 revision) required Danish men to pay an annual fee to support their illegitimate children.[4] Between 1890 and 1910, the support rules varied considerably.[5]

In 1914, Denmark began creating a system of legal fatherlessness, where the children of unwed Greenlandic mothers had no right to know or inherit from their fathers.[1] The laws shielded many Danish men from having any responsibility for their Greenlandic children.[1] In effect, they were segregationist.[1] The laws lasted until 1963 in Kitaa, and were repealed in Avannaa and Tunu in 1974.[6] Hundreds of legally fatherless children were born before the laws were replaced.[7] One estimate in 2016 suggests between 5,000 and 8,000 children were born legally fatherless.[8]

Activism

In 2009, Anne Sofie Hardenberg released an autobiography of her experiences as a legally fatherless child (Kampen for en Far, English: The Fight for a Father), and an organization for the legally fatherless was formed, Kattuffik Ataata.[9] The next year, the Danish government hired historians from Denmark and Greenland to investigate the issue; their report was published in 2011.[9]

Due to activism and demands by Greenlandic politicians, Denmark fully reversed the legal fatherlessness provisions in 2014.[1] The new law granted the right of Greenlandic children of unwed mothers to inherit from their fathers and sue for paternity.[1] They continue to press for compensation; one group of 26 legally fatherless persons, represented by the same lawyer representing the little Danes experiment survivors (Mads Pramming),[6] demanded 125,000 kroner in 2022.[10] In April 2023, the Danish government refused to compensate the group.[8]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Andersen, Hvenegård-Lassen & Knobblock 2015, p. 243.
  2. ^ Nexø 2013, p. 148.
  3. ^ Nonbo Andersen 2020, p. 231.
  4. ^ Nexø 2013, p. 152–153.
  5. ^ Nexø 2013, pp. 162–163.
  6. ^ a b Møller 2022.
  7. ^ Nexø 2013, p. 168.
  8. ^ a b Sermitsiaq 2023.
  9. ^ a b Nonbo Andersen 2020, p. 232.
  10. ^ Sermitsiaq 2022.

Works cited

  • Andersen, Astrid; Hvenegård-Lassen, Kirsten; Knobblock, Ina (2015). "Feminism in postcolonial Nordic spaces". NORA. 23 (4): 239–245. doi:10.1080/08038740.2015.1104596.
  • Møller, Ann-Sophie Greve (17 June 2022). "Juridisk faderløse sender krav om erstatning til den danske stat" [Legally fatherless send compensation demands to the Danish government]. Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (in Danish).
  • Nexø, Sniff Andersen (2013). "Særlige Grønlandske forhold: Rum, ret og uægteskabelige børn i det koloniale Grønland" [Special Greenlandic conditions: Space, law and illegitimate children in colonial Greenland]. Historisk Tidsskrift (in Danish). 113 (1): 147–183.
  • Nonbo Andersen, Astrid (2020). "The Greenland Reconciliation Commission: Moving away from a legal framework". In Alfredsson, Gudmundur; Koivurova, Timo (eds.). The yearbook of polar law. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV. ISBN 9789004418745.
  • "Juridisk faderløse sætter beløb på erstatningskrav" [Legal fatherless set amount for compensation claims]. Sermitsiaq (in Danish). Ritzau. 17 June 2022.
  • "Danmark afviser erstatning til juridisk faderløse" [Denmark rejects compensation for the legally fatherless]. Sermitsiaq (in Danish). Ritzau. 1 April 2023.