My article is about women who were devalued, outcast, and stigmatized in Dublin,Ireland up until 1996. These women were sentenced to laundry houses and residential work houses that were run by Catholic nuns and serviced Catholic institutions. In addition, they serviced hotels and other businesses doing laundry and making rosary beads. The article stated that there were as many as 10,000 women confined during this period of time. At least 1,000 were still found residing in one when the last one was closed in 1996. The women were termed the Magdalene women because they were accused of being prostitutes, which they weren’t. They were destitute due to family circumstances.
The President of Ireland called a special public apology session for the women to discuss compensation for their mistreatment. He also proposed building a memorial to honor them. Although, the people who were responsible were a part of the Fianna Fail Government. They chose not to take part in the apology to the women.
There were a few things that really surprised me in this article. The first is that these houses were run under the affiliation of the Catholic Church. Secondly, public officials were involved in the enslavement of these women, also. However, children were also enslaved in similar institutions. Yet, the party responsible, the Fianna Fail Government, agreed to compensate the children. It has already started to be dispersed. However, the refuse to compensate the women stating that the laundry houses were privately owned. This article just goes to show that gender inequality exists everywhere and that although we’re making progress, we’re not quite there yet.