IRELAND
Irish Times
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
Some 8.1 per cent of the women and girls who entered the Magdalene laundries were referred there from the criminal justice system, the interdepartmental committee has found.
Criminal justice referrals included women on remand or on probation, deferred sentences, early or temporary release and referrals after prison.
In his introduction to the committee’s report, Senator Martin McAleese says some women were sent “on foot of criminal convictions ranging from vagrancy and larceny to manslaughter and murder”.
While most referrals had a legislative basis, some much less common informal referrals did not, the report said. These included suspension of sentence on condition of laundry residence.
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