Fact Sheet # 5: PUNISHING UNMARRIED MOTHERS

Hundreds of thousands of single pregnant girls were herded into Unmarried Mothers Homes, where the order of the day was punishment - not sympathy.

To atone for the sin of giving birth out of wedlock, the mothers at a 1950's Unmarried Mothers Home had to wash their babies nappies outside in old cattle troughs using scrubbing boards till their fingers bled.

In a majority of Church run Unmarried Mothers Homes, every opportunity was used to emphasise the unmarried mothers' fallen state and her need for redemption.

The prominent religious text on the nursery wall in a 1960's Church run Unmarried Mothers Home was a quote from the Bible: James 1:15; "When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin"

Unmarried mothers without family support or independent financial means could be held in Mental Institutions on the pretext that they were morally deficient. Their babies were taken from them and placed for adoption, but the mothers remained forcibly detained.

This was the appalling fate suffered by a young Irish nurse, the mother of one of Britain's most popular actors John Nettles, star of Bergerac and Midsomer Murders. John Nettles was adopted and learnt later that his mother died at the age of 28.

Many young mothers lives were destroyed before the Mental Health Act was reformed in 1959. The survivors were elderly and institutionalised when they were finally released in the 1980's and 1990's to live out what was left of their lives in sheltered accommodation.

Trackers International is accused of digging over old ground many would prefer was left undisturbed. We make no apology for exposing the immoral, unethical and illegal treatment of Britain's unmarried mothers.

The fight for justice will continue.

Copyright © Patricia Basquill, 2002 - 2008