IRELAND
Derry Journal
Brendan McDaid
Brendan.McDaid@jpress.co.uk
Sinn Féin Foyle MLA Maeve McLaughlin has welcomed a new working group to look into a possible inquiry around Magdalene Laundries and mother and baby homes.
The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland were institutions run by the Catholic Church for decades with the knowledge of the State.
Thousands of women were incarcerated in such facilities and made to work in laundries run by the Church.
Many of these women were taken there because they were deemed to be ‘fallen women’ for reasons that could include that they had become pregnant out of wedlock or even for flirtatious behaviour.
Many suffered horrific abuse, many were forced to sign over their own babies for adoption, and the women were also forced to endure separation from their families and the outside world.
Many died without ever getting their lives back.
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