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Magdalenes - State Responsibility To Establish Inquiry
Added to www.alliancesupport.org on November 9, 2010
The Irish Human Rights Commission has called for a statutory inquiry into the treatment of women and girls in the Magdalene Laundries.
The Irish Human Rights Commission has called for a statutory inquiry into the treatment of women and girls in the Magdalene Laundries.
In a report published today, the IHRC also urges the Government to provide redress for the survivors.
The commission says the courts committed some the women and girls to the ten institutions concerned.
And it says serious questions arise in relation to the State's duties to guard against arbitrary detention, compulsory labour, and servitude.
Welcoming the IHRC's report, the Justice for Magdalenes organisation called on the four congregations of nuns which ran the institutions to enter talks to bring about reconciliation.
In a statement, Maeve O'Rourke, co-author of Justice For Magdelenes' submission said: 'As the IHRC concludes, there is far too little public information available about the Magdalene Laundries.
'So far, the religious orders have refused to engage. Therefore, the State needs to lead the way. It must convince the church to acknowledge its part in this scandal and to open up its records.
'The state should also call upon the church to honour its moral obligation to find the money to pay its share of compensation to survivors,' she added.