France is in the grip of a wave of sexual abuse scandals which has highlighted systemic failures in the handling of sexual assault and child abuse complaints. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Solène Podevin-Favre, President of Face à l'Inceste, says that the latest cases show that "the culture of rape and incest must change and become the culture of vigilance, of protection and we start by believing victims".
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0-Xc6qeigQ

San Francisco, like several cities in the U.S. and Ireland, had a Magdalen Asylum for "wayward" girls. Teen girls and young women were sent to the Mag by law enforcement and by family members for such "crimes" as being raped, homeless, promiscuous, pregnant out of wedlock, mentally ill, alcoholic, or simply for being "difficult," as well as a few who'd been arrested for prostitution (like the facility's namesake).

San Francisco's Magdalen Asylum, run by the Sisters of Mercy, existed from 1856 to 1932. For much of that time, it was located at Potrero Ave and 21st Street, where today's SF General (Zuckerberg) Hospital stands. It housed up to 200 girls and young women at any given time.

Inmates were forced to work long hours, as slaves, doing needle work and laundry, often in complete silence. When they broke rules or "misbehaved," they were isolated (solitary confinement) and denied food. The facility had its own cemetery for girls, babies, and nuns who died there. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of babies were born on the premises, many adopted out without their mothers' consent.

In 1992, San Francisco General built its current Behavioral Health Center on the site of the former Magdalen Asylum.

Read more here: https://www.bethwinegarner.com/magdalen-asylum-girls

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