MAGDALENE LAUNDRY AUSTRALIA 1 of 6 - Good Shepherd Convent in Abbotsford, Melbourne, Victoria

This video was taken in Nov 2008 at the Good Shepherd Convent in Abbotsford, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is a present day guided tour with a tour guide. This first of six videos features the tour intro with a general introduction from the Arch-Bishops Office at the Abottsford Convent. The camera work and production were undertaken by Paul Curwood, the son of a former inmate who endured this home between 1928 and 1931. In its heyday and for many decades the laundry at the convent was one of the biggest commercial laundries in Melbourne, serving many public hospitals and church clergy. It was a big money earner for the Catholic Church and the Good Shepherd nuns. As late as 1970 it was totally staffed by unpaid young women who had fallen foul of the law or the social morality of the time. These young women had the misfortune to end up enslaved by the nuns until they were eighteen years old. The girls self estemes were systematically disempowered by the nuns. All inmates became severely institutionalized. Some stayed in the nuns 'care' until their deaths. The women who were released were often crushed characters who never realized their full potential. These are the stolen generations: different types of 'stolen generation' when compared to the Australian Aborigines. These unfortunates, numbering thousands, have never been apologized to ,or compensated for, their enslavement. Who said slavery was not a twentieth century practice in the civilized Western World?

Category:

Education

Tags:

• slavery
• magdalene
• laundries
• orphanage

[SuperRach101]

@laurierevill - but i thought it was the girls families themselves that sent them to the convents because they brought shame on the family? your daughter wouldnt have gone because you wouldnt have put her there! x

[SuperRach101]

@ozibecozi - you misunderstand, i was replying to Laurieevill's comment below and not remarking on your video LOL

[ozibecozi]

@SuperRach101 I don't know how you got the idea this was about my daughter. It came about because my dearly departed mother was there 1922 to 1930

[acme181169]

You can tell that toddler has never met a nun!

[OneLazyNinja]

@bargeanimal well my god.. why would you even BRING children to something like this? One child in a billion would sit still for this.

[OneLazyNinja]

@SuperRach101 sometimes yes. Probably a lot of the time. But a lot of press ganging went on too. Word would get out about this girl or that. And suddenly you'd see the black van turn up. And she'd never be seen again. There are stories of parents trying to find daughters that disappeared.

[ModraMagic]

This makes me so angry. The pope will not say sorry for that DOG

[jnb4566]

I knew about the Irish Laundries but had no idea it happened here, thank you for opening my eyes.

[horribleuack34]

always good to watch this online latest Release Movies -dot - com

[bargeanimal]

Control those kids. It's bad enough trying to hear with the sound quality the way it is.