Denmark apologizes for decades of mistreating disabled people.
The Danish government apologized on Monday for the mistreatment of thousands of disabled individuals. The teams who were subjected to such abuses as forced sterilizations and sexual assaults in state-run facilities starting in the 1930s.
According to academician who looked into their cases, between 1933 and 1980, the centers received roughly 15,000 children. Adults with disabilities include:
- Blindness
- Epilepsy
- Physical or mental impairments for varying lengths of time under the pretense of safeguarding society.
Denmark apologizes for decades of mistreating disabled people
For instance from 1929 to 1967, Danish legislation required sterilizations for mental health patients. By 1989, they needed permission from the authorities to get married.
A 2020 investigation commissioned by the previous Danish government discovered a number of violations at the facilities, including assault, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and major shortcomings in medical care.
In the western city of Horsens, the social affairs minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theilt addressed a group of about 50 victims from the time period, saying, “The state had… an obligation of oversight, and did not sufficiently do its job.”
She apologized “in the name of the Danish state, in the name of the government.”
“What happened to you is far from the ideal of Denmark that we uphold. What occurred to you will never be forgotten by us, and it won’t ever happen again.
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