Mother and baby homes: Cases of underage pregnant girls were not referred to Gardaí

Ireland News News

Mother and baby homes: Cases of underage pregnant girls were not referred to Gardaí
Ireland Latest News,Ireland Headlines
  • 📰 thejournal_ie
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 69 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 31%
  • Publisher: 50%

The Regina Coeli hostel noted in 1933 in relation to one woman who fell pregnant: “A TD is responsible for her trouble”.

File photo. Image: Shutterstock/aslysun File photo. Image: Shutterstock/aslysun MANY CASES OF underage girls who became pregnant and were sent to mother and baby homes were not referred to Gardaí to investigate as statutory rape.

“Clearly statutory rape was involved,” he said at a press briefing this afternoon. “It’s just extraordinary that no one even thought for a second, it seems from personal testimonies, that these issues should be pursued.” For most of the period covered by the Mother and Baby Home investigation, it was an offence to have sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 17.

The Good Shepherd Sisters have pointed out that they regarded their role as providing care and support and that any criminal justice issues would have been a matter for the social workers dealing with the mothers. Mandatory reporting was not required at the time. The report notes that in June 1935, the matron of Bessborough wrote to the South Cork board about a 15-year-old resident suggesting that “the child’s seducer should be punished”.

Related Reads 12.01.21 'On admission her clothes were removed, her hair was cut. She was told: "You're here for your sins"' 12.01.21 5-year investigation finds at least 9,000 children died in Ireland's mother and baby homes It notes that in one entry from 1933, a woman who was sent to the Regina Coeli hostel fell pregnant by a TD:

The file recorded that she had sexual relations with him “before she was 16 and even before puberty. She says she never told her foster-mother thinking it was no harm”.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

thejournal_ie /  🏆 32. in İE

Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines



Render Time: 2025-02-08 01:47:26