Though they have been found guilty of no crime, the Magdalenes portrayed
in this film (so-called after Mary Magdalene, the penitent prostitute)
are exploited as what amounts to slave laborers, receiving no pay for
their years of work. They are denied an education, forbidden any contact
with the outside world, forced to eat poor food, and made to sleep in a
damp, unheated garret.
Moreover, the girls are constantly humiliated by the nuns who mete out canings, beatings, and various other random cruelties as part of their daily routine. In one scene, for example, the humiliation reaches the height of absurdity: the girls are made to stand naked before the nuns, who giggle as they critically assess their charges.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=26355
Moreover, the girls are constantly humiliated by the nuns who mete out canings, beatings, and various other random cruelties as part of their daily routine. In one scene, for example, the humiliation reaches the height of absurdity: the girls are made to stand naked before the nuns, who giggle as they critically assess their charges.
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=26355