Responding to the research report into mother and baby homes, UUP Leader Steve Aiken OBE MLA said:

“The history of Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes casts a dark shadow on the history of Northern Ireland and this island.  You cannot detangle this vile practice from deeply misogynistic attitudes and how women have been viewed by our society.  The findings of the report show that these womens’ experiences were not exceptional – these were systemic practices that were ingrained in institutions.  For decades, women were dehumanised and degraded and it brings shame to us all.   

“I hope today brings some vindication to those who have fought for so long to tell their story.  We owe it to them all to look at this with our eyes wide open and to acknowledge that we need to actively stand against the attitudes that made it possible in the first place.

“The number of women and children affected is harrowing and it is deeply disturbing to see the significant amount of babies moved from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.  There are still answers to be provided and more light to be shed. Indeed survivors are spread right across the globe in places like Australia, the United States and Canada.

“There is also the problem of the intergenerational effects that saw survivors carry with them deep emotional and physiological scars and pass them onto their children. This effect, well documented with the victims and survivors of our troubles, could see those affected by historical mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries increase by many thousands.

“We are also mindful today to remember those who were victims of Historical Clerical Child Abuse. It is a fact that we offer different levels of support and opportunities for redress depending not on the nature of abuse inflicted but rather on where the abuse took place. That cannot continue to be the case if we are to be truly victim centred.

“The report is an important first step in acknowledging what was inflicted upon women and children.  We will read and consider it in full.”