Belgian Magdalenes. History of an aborted scandal?

Dumortier, Els [VUB] François, Aurore [UCL]

The analysis of cases of several Belgian juvenile courts (Antwerp, Brussels, Namur, Arlon) revealed questionable practices within some establishments for young delinquents. One institution in particular (Refuge Sainte Madeleine, Brussels), specialized in the rehabilitation of delinquent (and often pregnant) girls, developed suspicious methods of treatment. Indications of dysfunction in this private institution are numerous, and present a lot of similarities with practices observed in Irish Magdalene Asylums: teenage girls employed in a laundry run by a religious congregation, unexplained « disappearances » of the children born to delinquent girls, very high death rates, complaints from minors themselves and from their families regarding forms of negligence and even abuse. This local example leads us to question the practices of the Belgian protection system, and more specifically, the ‘pedogical approach’ in Magdalena covents. How to describe and explain the ‘pedagogical approach’ implemented within these institutions? What is the daily life of the institutionalized girls taking into account their living conditions and implemented discipline? Who worked in these private institutions? Were they trained in modern techniques of rehabilitation, and if so, what principles and applications were associated with these techniques? What is the influence of the Belgian separation between public and private sector with the child protection system? This case also invites us to examine the tension between official discourse and practice and raises questions on gendered reactions within the Belgian system.