Irish woman forbidden to speak during time at Cork Magdalene Laundry takes case to UN torture committee

An Irish woman,who says she was forbidden to speak and forced to sleep in a ‘prison-like’ bolted cell during her time at a Magdalene Laundry in Cork, has taken her case to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT).

Elizabeth Coppin, who says she was forced to work without pay six days a week at three different Magdalene Laundries she was held at between 1964 and 1968, is to have her complaint that the State has failed to investigate and ensure accountability for the girls and women in Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996 considered by the committee.