Hundreds
of Christchurch women worked in a convent laundry like the one depicted in a
new movie, The Magdalene Sisters. Only now is society realising what life was
like for these girls in exile.
They became known worldwide as "laundry slaves" -- unpaid women and teenage girls who worked in large commercial laundries run by Catholic orders. The idea was to redeem the souls of so-called "fallen" women, while generating a profit for their keepers. Tens of thousands of women toiled in these religious sweat shops in the 1800s and 1900s. Only now is their plight being recognised.
They became known worldwide as "laundry slaves" -- unpaid women and teenage girls who worked in large commercial laundries run by Catholic orders. The idea was to redeem the souls of so-called "fallen" women, while generating a profit for their keepers. Tens of thousands of women toiled in these religious sweat shops in the 1800s and 1900s. Only now is their plight being recognised.