Chapter 9 — Record of abuse (female witnesses)

Emotional abuse

It is of note that 20% of the emotional abuse reports were made by witnesses who were discharged after 1970, which was similar to those of physical abuse and neglect .

The main forms of emotional abuse identified by witnesses included: humiliation and ridicule, deprivation of contact with siblings and family, rejection, loss of identity, lack of affection, threat of harm and deliberate exposure to frightening situations. Other forms of emotional abuse included a punitive emphasis on religion, public humiliation and personal ridicule, denigration of family of origin, isolation, criticism and verbal abuse, and the unreasonable imposition of responsibility. There is some unavoidable overlap between the different forms of emotional abuse and between emotional abuse and other types of abuse, particularly physical and sexual abuse.

The most consistently reported form of emotional abuse described by female witnesses was humiliation and ridicule. One hundred and ninety seven (197) witnesses described being humiliated and ridiculed by a variety of means including name calling, being humiliated about personal hygiene, being subject to constant criticism, being made to publicly beg forgiveness for alleged misconduct, being made to stand or kneel to eat meals at a penance table, having attention called to physical disabilities or impairments, being forced to stand naked in front of others and having soiled underwear exhibited for ridicule.

The most frequently cited occasion for public humiliation was in the management of bed-wetting. Witnesses who wet their bed described having to carry wet mattresses and walk with wet sheets over their head and shoulders through the School and across the yards to drying rooms, the laundries, or while sitting in the refectories. In three Schools it was reported that witnesses had to drape wet sheets on their shoulders in classrooms shared with local children. Eight (8) witnesses reported that the Resident Manager of a particular School forced those who wet their beds to wear their wet sheet or pants on their head or shoulders as they walked as far as the School gate. Others reported being forced to stand in the refectory with the wet sheet on their back while they ate breakfast or while watching others eat.

Witnesses also reported being humiliated regarding their dress and general appearance. For example, a witness reported being punished by being forced to wear a dress made from a flour sack, which was removed in advance of an inspector’s visit. Others described having to wear ragged clothes to school in the company of children from the town and being teased about their poor attire. Another witness who needed glasses and had been recommended by the doctor to sit in front of the class reported that the Sister ridiculed her in front of the class saying ‘we would not like to look at this ugly girl all day, would we girls?’ Witnesses reported being mocked by staff about their personal appearance and humiliated by having attention drawn to adolescent changes: One time my sister brought me a bra. Sr ...X... made me stand up in the hall in front of the whole school and made me take it off and said “who do you think you are?”

Twenty three (23) witnesses reported enforced public nakedness as a cause of distress and humiliation. They described being beaten naked in front of others, being made to stand in line without any clothes and being bathed with others. Witnesses described the humiliation of being beaten on their bare buttocks and being forced to remove their skirts and pants, or pull up their nightdresses, having to bend over a chair or a desk or being held down on a bed or across a table to be beaten. The humiliation and shame of being observed while being physically abused in this manner was commented on by witnesses: You got blamed even if you didn’t do it. She ...(Sr X)... took my knickers down once ...(in front of co-residents)... “let this be a lesson to you all” she said, she put me across her knee. I would have been about 8, and she beat me and beat me with a whip, a whip type stick until I cried. • I’ll never forget that beating, all the girls watching. The worst thing was not the beating but your naked bottom being seen by all the girls, it was so embarrassing.

Fifty four (54) witnesses reported being called derogatory names and being subjected to derisory comments. Others reported being treated with hostility and told they were not liked by anybody. The classrooms and dormitories were the most frequently cited locations of such ridicule, which focussed on academic difficulties, their parent’s impoverished circumstances, their personal appearance and hygiene. The emphasis was on making you submit, cower, creep, crawl, we were beaten if we were sad, “take that glum look off your face” and if you were happy, “why are you smiling? I’ll take you off your high horse”.

Name-calling by lay and religious staff was reported as a common occurrence and included: ‘devil’s handmaid’, ‘tar babies’, ‘shawlies’, ‘Baluba’, ‘pauper’, ‘tinker’, ‘trash’, ‘dirty stinking trollop’, ‘illegitimate’, ‘slut’, ‘sinners’, ‘bastards’, ‘idiot’, ‘dunce’, ‘thick’, ‘liar’, ‘bandy legs’, ‘wet the bed’, ‘Dublin nobodies’, and ‘street kids’.

One hundred and twenty four (124) witnesses gave accounts of being personally ridiculed, which most commonly involved being ridiculed about soiled bedding and underwear in public by religious staff including Resident Managers. The public demonstration of soiled bedding and clothing was humiliating and a source of great distress. Many witnesses described having their underwear inspected on a regular basis and being punished and publicly ridiculed if they were soiled. It’s so hard, we had no toilet paper, you would have to stand naked. If your knickers were dirty, as they would be after 2 weeks, you would be beaten, by ...Sr X and Sr Y.... • Every week we used have to hold up the gusset of the nicks ... (pants)... and show it off, if it was marked you used to have to stand out in front of the class. I was so terrified ... (that)... I used hold up my clean ones and wear the old ones for weeks.

Witnesses reported that the humiliation of having their soiled pants displayed in public was compounded during adolescent years as signs of menstruation were treated as a grave transgression. Witnesses also reported being called derogatory names in relation to matters of personal hygiene and being subjected to comments that attracted the derision and criticism of others.

Twenty nine (29) witnesses who attended school with children from the local town, frequently referred to as ‘townies’, reported being the subject of ridicule and constant criticism in front of their peers. For example, a witness who was a talented musician and was chosen to perform music in public described the confusion associated with being expected to perform well and then being punished for her success. Mth ...X... hit me across the face with her hand and said “don’t get above your station”. You were expected to play ...(musical instrument)... well and you were punished if you played well.

The humiliation of being segregated in the class by religious staff, some of whom were reported to have a dual role as carer and teacher, and of being identified as ‘orphans’ was described as being the cause of enduring distress and anger by a large number of witnesses. ‘Orphans go down to the back of the class’. Sr ...X... gave us orphans a dog’s life. It was a living nightmare. She called us the scum of the earth, she refused to teach the orphans ...described being excluded from a school pageant.... • We were kept separate from the townies, they were warned we could steal. We had a special entrance and were not allowed mix with them. • We sat together, we knew we were different, we were told we were different. Sr ...X... said “don’t forget where you come from”. ... You were the scum of the earth.... “Get back to the orphanage where you belong.”

Witnesses described being targeted for personal ridicule in many ways, including being made to stand in the classroom wearing a hat with ‘dunce’ written on it or with signs around their necks with ‘liar’ and ‘stupid’ written on them.

There were accounts from five Schools of witnesses being required to kneel down, kiss the floor and beg the Sisters’ forgiveness for perceived transgressions. This punishment was reported to be carried out in front of the assembled residents.

A witness who had been sexually abused within her family described the Resident Manager of the School where she was placed when she was 10 years old telling her co-residents that she was ‘morally dirty’ and that they were not to speak to her or play with her.