Enda Kenny offers apology to survivors of the Magdalene Laundries

The Irish government gave an official apology to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. I've never heard of this event until recently when this came up in the news. Magdalene Laundry was once known as Magdalene Asylum and was part of a chain of asylums in Ireland that were operated by the Roman Catholic Church and run by nuns with the intention of institutionalizing those whom they considered "fallen" women, thus the naming after the biblical character Mary Magdalene who was a prostitute before she found Jesus. Here, here, and here are a few links I found interesting while doing some research. 


Putting religion aside, the reason I'm adding this to the blog is because of the human rights violations as well as violence against women. This story is really horrific and hit a nerve for me. Also, I'm taking a wild guess that this story may not be very well known, making me wonder if it's been a hidden story in the media due to the shame and humiliation experienced by a lot of women within the Irish community, or perhaps the shaming of  the government locally or globally. Ireland initially joined the European Community (precursor to the EU) in 1973 and was supposed to abide by the laws of Human Rights but the government essentially swept the ML case under the rug. 

An article recently published by Amnesty International calls for action to the Irish government:
"The state is responsible for human rights violations where its authorities were directly complicit in any arbitrary detention and mistreatment of women and children in the Magdalene Laundries or similar institutions. It is also culpable for human rights abuses committed by non-state bodies while exercising a public function, and/or where the state had failed to exercise due diligence in the prevention or investigation of human rights abuses."

The BBC reports that from 1922 to 1996 approximately 10,000 women were forced to do manual labor in the laundries without pay. Over a quarter of the women were sent by the Irish state and the last operation closed in 1996. The women who suffered from the exploitation, abuse and oppression of the Magdalene Laundries were finally granted an official apology by their government. Some women responded positively, welcoming the long overdue statement that, for some, has made a serious impact in Ireland's history. However not all survivors are accepting the apology. I for one, can't blame them, but at least there is disclosure and word that the survivors and their families will be compensated through a fund for this unspeakable tragedy, and they will definitely be in my thoughts.