The Magdalene Laundries and Sexual Abuse in Ireland

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By NATALIE NOVICK

July 6, 2011

There is an installation covering a side of an old building site that I walk by everyday. Near the top it reads, “trespass and forgiveness” and on the adjacent wall in A4 size letters, “sex offender”. On the walls themselves are plastered posters of police reports outlining sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. The contents of the installation change from time to time; as the posters fade and weather, new posters will go up, but always with the same message. It has been here at least as long as I have been here (nearly three years now) and I am sure it has been here much longer. The message this installation projects is loud and clear. It is in a well-traveled area, in Dublin’s most historic “Old City,” near the tourist trap of Temple Bar. Often you see tourists trying to make sense of it, reading the fine print of the plastered pages.

For nearly all of its history, Ireland has been a staunchly Catholic country (before that time it was inhabited by Vikings), and that faith has left a mark on many aspects of life here. When the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandals of the past finally came out around the world in recent years, they started to come out of the woodwork in Ireland as well. As happened in some places around the world, many cases were swept under the rug, and some abusers were protected by the church, moved around, and practically cleared of their crimes, to the detriment of their victims. Obviously the person tending to the message of the installation was impacted by this abuse in some way or another.

While in some cases these sexual abusers faced little to no punishment, and their damaged victims had to go on with their lives without justice or support, another group of female sexual abuse victims has been instrumental in getting their case in front of the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights. These are the women of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.

I had not heard about the Magdalene Laundries, and the horrific abuse and torture against women that took place there, until I came to Ireland, and only from an unlikely place. My aunt and I were flipping through the television in a hotel room on a rainy weekend away when we came across the film “The Magdalene Sisters.” The dearth of television programming on at this hour kept us on the channel and we sat transfixed at this powerful and horrific story of young Irish girls sent to these asylums of modern slavery.

The first Irish Magdalene Asylum opened in Dublin in 1767 with the intention of “rehabilitating” prostitutes. Over time they became more and more numerous, taking in “fallen women,” women who had sex outside of marriage, unwed mothers, suspects of violated chastity, or those who were seen to be “too vain.” The laundries additionally took in women who had been raped, or who grew up in orphanages with nowhere to go. At the time these women were cast out by their families for bringing shame upon them, and put in these launderette asylums, under the watchful eyes of orders of nuns. The women were forcibly separated from their babies, which were sent into foster care, and in many cases the mothers never saw them again. The women worked for no pay, and the work was the “symbolic” washing clothing and church linens to purge their sins. According to the victim’s stories, the women had to work all day in silence, and could not escape. Some women lived their whole lives inside those walls. It was rare that some women eventually escaped, or their families eventually got over their shame and came to release them. The forced servitude and free labor of the “penitents,” as they were called, turned into profitable businesses for the religious orders running the laundries. Over time more and more asylums opened up elsewhere in Europe, Canada and the United States.

While they were working at these asylums, many of the women were subject to abuse during their internment. The abuse committed by the nuns and priests overseeing the laundries was physical, sexual and psychological. Oftentimes the women had their heads shaved, and were stripped naked to be examined. They were subject to a variety of horrific tortures, beatings for disobedience, and sexual degradation. The last Magdalene Laundry closed in Ireland in 1996. It was not closed due to pressure from the public, or from the scandal of the long history of abuse. They eventually closed because the prevalence of washing machines made the institutions obsolete. It is estimated that 30,000 women were sent to Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, however the church has kept the true number secret.

In 1993, the remains of 155 women were discovered at High Park Convent in North Dublin after the Sisters of Charity, who owned the land, sold it to a real estate developer. These remains belonged to women forced into servitude to ‘cleanse’ their souls after bringing shame on their families. The fate of these women, and the extent of the abuse suffered by the women sent into this modern day slavery will never be known. It was only after the discovery that the Irish government begun to cautiously look into the history of abuse inflicted on the women sent to the Magdalene Laundries. Only recently has the Irish government sought to investigate the issue at length. The survivors and advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes has been active in seeking support for survivors. They have lobbied the Irish government for recognition for the past several years and have been integral in getting their story to an international stage. At the United Nation’s 1016th meeting of the Committee Against Torture on June 1, 2011, they called for the Irish government to “institute prompt, independent, and thorough investigations into all allegations of torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that were allegedly committed” at the laundries.

It is hard to believe that I only found out about the story of the Magdalene Laundaries from a film, but it is true that the horrific abuse these many women suffered is often kept secret, as many still feel that those women brought their fate among themselves. Many women who were subject to the abuse inside the Magdalene Laundries were led to believe they deserved this punishment for their behavior.  They also feared coming forward with their stories because many of the abusers were still highly involved in the Irish Catholic Church, which still has significant power in the community. Revisiting the abuse was painful, and oftentimes without physical evidence or willing witnesses they had difficulty getting any help bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The director of The Magdalene Sisters wrote the film to raise awareness because so many of these abused women were denied closure, and their wounds were left open without justice. The film shows the horrors of life inside the Magdelene Laundaries, which at times is hard to watch. However, when the film came out, some victims remarked that the abuse was much, much worse than depicted.

I sincerely hope that the UN’s urging gets Ireland to act. Not everything is known about what happened in these horrific institutions, and it needs to be brought to light. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland and hearing from some victims, I recommend the Channel 4 documentary, “Sex in a Cold Climate”, which is available in its entirety on YouTube, as well as Peter Mullan’s  film, “The Magdalene Sisters”. So many of the survivors have suffered in silence. They are long overdue compensation and their torturers need to be held accountable. Everyone should know about what happened there, in order that it never happens again.