Magdalene asylums , also known as Magdalene laundries named after the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene , were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to house " fallen women ".
The term referred to female sexual promiscuity or prostitutes , young women who became pregnant outside of marriage, or young girls and teenagers who did not have familial support. Many of these "laundries" were effectively operated as penitentiary workhouses. The strict regimes in the institutions were often more severe than those found in prisons. This contradicted the perceived outlook that they were meant to help women as opposed to punishing them.
A survivor said of the working conditions: "The heat was unbelievable. You couldn't leave your station unless a bell went. The first Magdalene institution was founded in late in Whitechapel , England. All these were Protestant institutions. Other cities followed, especially from around , with Catholic institutions also being opened. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Magdalene asylums were common in several countries.
The women worked at services and crafts to help provide financial support for the house. They were also given a small sum of money for their work. Additional income was generated by promoting the house as a tourist attraction for the upper classes.
Horace Walpole , Fourth Earl of Orford, described staging one of these entertainments. It later moved to Streatham , and could eventually house about women, admitted between the ages of 15 and Bristol 40 women followed in , Bath 79 in , and many other cities in the years following, though their names mostly no longer included "Magdalene".
