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Public Disclosure
Description
Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) is a not-for-profit, totally volunteer-run organization, with members in Ireland, the UK, the US, EU and Australia. We are primarily an online community, with a website, a Facebook site with over 1100 members, and two listserv discussion groups with over 300 members. We also have non-Internet based members all around Ireland, many of whom are Magdalene survivors.
Definition
JFM is a survivor advocacy group — this is how the organization refers to itself in all public announcements. In other words, JFM advocates on behalf of a population of women — living and dead, some still living in religious institutions, others living in anonymity, and many now speaking about their past — who are not recognized or acknowledged as survivors of institutional abuse by the State, by the Church, or by Irish society.
Goals
JFM's primary goals are (i) to bring about an official apology from the Irish State and the Catholic Church, and (ii) the establishment of a distinct redress scheme for Magdalene survivors. Once JFM achieves these objectives, the door will be open to every survivor and/or her family and/or other groups representing Magdalene survivors to pursue their own claim for redress.
Structure
JFM has both a coordinating committee and an advisory committee. The coordinating committee includes survivors/daughters of Magdalenes as well as activists committed to the ideal of social justice. The advisory committee consists of academics and professionals who provide advice and support but who remain subject to approval by the coordinating committee.
Funding
JFM has not applied for not has it received funding from the Irish State or any of the various religious congregations that operated the laundries. Currently, the JFM bank account has less than €500, the vast majority of which was donated by committee members and volunteers. In 2003, JFM did received an in-kind donation of 5,000 black-and-white printed post cards paid for by Miramax, the film distribution company for Peter Mullen’s The Magdalene Sisters, as part of a mail/e-mail campaign demanding political action to provide redress for Magdalene survivors. No currency ever changed hands. JFM will gladly provide details of its financial bona fides to anyone upon request.
Policy on Privacy of Survivors
JFM has a long-standing policy not to make public the names of survivors without their consent. To do so is a breach of their confidentiality and trust. There is a particular stigma still attached to the Magdalene laundries, and many survivors choose to protect the privacy of their established lives from the injustices done to them in the past. No one has apologized to Ireland's Magdalene women; no one has owned up to the fact that what happened to them was wrong. Simply put, many survivors will choose anonymity until this situation changes. JFM is committed to bringing about these changes, but we also realize that even if we are successful some women will always choose to maintain their identity in secrecy.
A Word of Caution
The subject of the Magdalene laundries is a very popular one with the media, as well as with academics, musicians, documentary makers, film-makers, poets and other artists. In an effort to complete their work these individuals will nearly always want an interview with a Magdalene survivor. JFM never passes on the contact details of a survivor without permission and in fact we try to keep communication with survivors and the media to a minimum. JFM’s priority is to protect the welfare of survivors, even if this results in a loss of media coverage.
As a survivor, only you can decide if it is right for you to speak to the media. If you are unsure and would like some advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a confidential chat. In general, we urge survivors to be cautious and if anyone has been contacted by the media and would like JFM to act as a go between, we would be more than happy to do so.
This same advice applies to other local or online support groups, Facebook pages, etc. JFM maintains an open policy on its Facebook page. Anyone is free to join, discuss, ask questions and interact. We only screen to prevent spammers from joining/posting to the group. We are aware, however, that other groups screen membership and have even refused membership to survivors and their families. We are also aware of groups that censor or remove postings without good cause (i.e. no offensive language or bad intent was contained in the post). No one should ever be censored or excluded as a survivor. The experience of women who survived the laundries and that of their children and extended families (many of whom were put up for adoption and suffered secondary trauma) should never be invalidated, belittled or questioned by anyone.