Rape and incest victims and girl as young as 12 sent to mother and baby homes The Marianvale mother and baby home in Newry, Co Down
Claire McKeegan of Phoenix Law
MORE than 10,000 women and children, including rape and incest victims and a girl as young as 12, were sent to mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland, a long-awaited report has found.
Research by academics highlighted a culture of stigma, shame and secrecy attached to unmarried mothers between 1922 and 1990.
The report raised serious concerns about death rates among babies linked to the homes and found that some women felt pressurised into giving up their children.
The archbishops of the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland have expressed shame over mother and baby homes.
More than 10,000 women and girls entered institutions for unmarried mothers across Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1990, and a report has revealed claims of inappropriate labour and being stigmatised at the homes, run by Catholic orders and Protestant clergy.
A “victim-centred” independent investigation was ordered by Stormont ministers and should be completed within six months.
The Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, said all historic records from the homes should be released in full.
“If anyone is trying to hide records or destroy records, that is a crime. Of course there is no reason why records should be withheld because people want to know who they are,” Mr McKeown told the BBC.
NI mother-and-baby homes: Disclosure has to be a duty , says bishop
Published
image captionThousands of women and girls entered the institutions in Northern Ireland over a 68-year period
The historic records of mother-and-baby homes in Northern Ireland should be released in full, the Bishop of Derry has said.
A Stormont-commissioned report estimated around 10,500 women entered homes here between 1922 and 1990.
However, due to incomplete records this figure may be much higher.
First Minister Arlene Foster said on Tuesday that the voices of survivors would be heard loudly and clearly with a new independent investigation.
The report examined eight mother-and-baby-homes, a number of former workhouses and four Magdalene Laundries. They were operated by both Catholic and Protestant churches as well as other religious organisations.
Here is some of the key information uncovered:
– What were the institutions and why are they being examined?
The operation of homes for unmarried mothers and babies, Magdalene Laundries and to a lesser extent baby homes which operated in Northern Ireland until 1990 have been examined by academics.
These institutions have historically been shrouded in secrecy.
Those who experienced them have levelled accusations of abuse, cruelty and inappropriate physical labour such as scrubbing floors, even in the final stages of pregnancy, under an ethos of shame, and being described as fallen women.
– How many people went through these institutions?
It is estimated that more than 14,000 girls and women went through the doors of mother and baby homes, Magdalen Laundries and industrial homes between 1922 and 1990. This figure is more than double the number previously thought.