On 6 April 2020, 19 women issued a summons against the congregation of the sisters of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd ran residential youth institutions at various locations in the Netherlands in the 18th and 19th century. The plaintiffs in this procedure were between the ages of 11 and 21 during their stay with the Good Shepherd and were placed there – usually by order of the juvenile court judge – for their own protection due to a perilous and insupportable home situation. Behind the closed doors of the convents’ institutions, the nuns forced the women to perform forced labor, and they were physically and mentally abused and neglected. The Clara Wichmann Foundation supports the women in this court case and also acts as plaintiff on behalf of other women who were similarly victimized by the Good Shepherd.
The plaintiffs are represented by lawyers Liesbeth Zegveld and Brechtje Vossenberg.
See also:
- Dohmen, ‘Nú pas worden de nonnen gedagvaard’, NRC, 6 april 2020 [in Dutch]
- Boffey, ‘Women sue Dutch Catholic order over forced labour claims’, the Guardian, 7 April 2020
- Dohmen, ‘De meisjes van de Goede Herder’, NRC, 14 July 2018 [back-story; in Dutch]
Previously