Children in Greenland

The Danish National Centre for Social Research (SFI) and the Greenland Home Rule Government have surveyed the general well-being of children in Greenland. The survey shows that most children in Greenland have normal and healthy lives. There are many common activities for children and adults, and many children are still raised according to the traditional Greenlandic way of life. However, around 15% of girls and 24% of boys have problems at school and with their friends. Moreover, many children have a hard life because of alcohol and drug abuse in the close family, domestic violence and sexual abuse. According to the survey, 5% of mothers know or suspect that their child has been sexually abused. However, the figure is thought to be much higher, as more than one-third of mothers stated that they had been sexually abused as a child. The survey is based on telephone interviews with mothers of 8% of the children in Greenland.