Lack of aftercare meant girls returned to institutions

Girls abused in residential homes often returned to “slave labour” situations at religious institutions to avoid more exploitative lives on work placement.

This was one of the findings of a report delivered to government 12 years before the recent and, less critical, examination of the Magdalene Laundries.

The 2001 report said a lack of aftercare meant girls left abusive establishments run by religious orders only to find themselves as victims of unscrupulous private employers. These teenagers were ill-equipped for life outside institutions and were pushed towards crime, emigration, homelessness, and substance abuse.