It was slave labour in the twentieth century. For almost 150 years thousands of women were sent to live in Catholic institutions in Ireland, punished for crimes such as having a child out of wedlock, or even because they were “too pretty”.
Forced to pay for their “sins”, these women, some as young as 12 years old were made to wash linens in laundries run by the Church. They worked six days a week for no pay. The seventh day was devoted to prayer. There was no talking, constant praying, abuse, torment, torture and no one was allowed to leave.
Some women worked in these laundries until their 80s. And, until now, the Irish state has never apologized to the surviving women and the government is now investigating the matter.
But that dark past is not Ireland’s alone. 16x9 discovered Canada had laundries too. And while the Irish government is seeking to address the pain and suffering of the women enslaved the Canadian government has not acknowledged the abuse.
In this 16x9 exclusive we meet Irish women whose lives were stolen from them and are on the search for justice. And we hear the harrowing tale of a young Canadian girl who says she was born into the institution after her 12 year old mother was raped.
© Shaw Media Inc., 2012. All rights reserved.