Welcome to Justice for Magdalenes

JFM Research welcomes call for immediate redress for Magdalene women based on human rights abuses

Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFM), welcomes the publication today of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) “Follow-up Report on State Involvement with Magdalen Laundries” which gives a detailed overview of the “systemic human rights failings” on the part of the Irish State in relation to the human rights abuses suffered by the girls and women of the Magdalene Laundries. The IHRC Report says that it is “difficult to discern” why the State repeatedly denied its involvement in the Laundries given the material that was available to it in Government Departments but that “the State can be in no doubt that it acted wrongfully”.

Read the entire press release > >

JFM receives Jim Kemmy 'Thirst for Justice' Award from Labour Youth

On Saturday, 15 June, Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) was honoured to be presented with the Jim Kemmy 'Thirst for Justice' award by Labour Youth at the Tom Johnson Summer School, Gresham Metropole Hotel, Cork. Accepting the award (which was presented by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamonn Gilmore) on behalf of Magdalene survivors and their colleagues were JFM PRO Claire McGettrick and JFM advisory committee member Dr. Katherine O'Donnell.

Read their powerful speeches here > >

Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), the survivor advocacy group, is announcing the end of its political campaign, begun in June 2009.

Read the entire exit statement > >

• JFM Ethos Statement: 'First Do No Harm'
• JFM complete revised Restorative Justice and Reparations Scheme
• JFM's Principal Submission (public redacted version)
• Registration of preliminary expression of interest in the receipt of benefits from the Magdalen Laundry Fund (Department of Justice)
• Full Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee Investigating State Involvement with the Magdalene Laundries
• JFM Follow-up Report to the UN Committee Against Torture
• UN Human Rights Officer of the High Commission posting of the JFM submission
• State involvement in the Magdalene Laundries: A Summary of JFM's submissions to the Inter-departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalene Laundries
• JFM complete revised Restorative Justice and Reparations Scheme
• JFM submission to the UN Committee Against Torture
• JFM Narrative of State Interaction
• JFM submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Ireland's Fourth Periodic Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• JFM submission to the United Nations Periodic Review
• JFM submission to the Irish Human Rights Commission
• Synopis of JFM's campaign and milestones to date for quick reference

Justice for Magdalenes gratefully ackowledges The Ireland Fund of Great Britain for its recent grant. This funding will enable JFM to cover expenses associated with our final push in the UN Committee Against Torture process, to gather and print testimonies, and to perform further research in order to assist the Inter-Departmental Committee's inquiries into state interaction with the Laundries.

We also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Feminist Review Trust, under which JFM has been gathering testimonies in conjunction with and as a pilot phase of the UCD Magdalene Oral History Project (which is also funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Science), directed by Dr. Katherine O'Donnell, Director of Women's Studies at UCD's School of Social Justice and JFM Advisory Committee member.