Cascade Female Factory

We paid an extra $10 for a guided tour, and, yes, it was truly worth it. Hugh, our guide, not only knew his stuff, but he was genuinely passionate about the history and the atrocities of this place. He was a very interesting and informative character to talk to. The guided tour will give you a better understanding of the history of the Cascade Female Factory.

There isn’t much left of the site itself, but their stories need to be told. It is a part of our history and a part that I feel we all need to understand and digest. So here’s my slant on this blight on women in the 1800s:

It started with a crime – but was it a crime? Was it just merely trying to exist? To be so hungry, you would risk deportation to feed your children - desperation!

It was worse. Initially, men, women & and children were all housed in the same probation centres. Thankfully, there were several female institutions' purposes built for women and children. We have visited Ross and Cascade now. They both resound with the same conditions and abominations.

Grossly overcrowded, dirty, cold, wet, underfed, submitted to cruelty, never excused, never heard, no voice even.

Infant mortality was rife. The poor mites were underfed and kept in squalid conditions. Their mothers were often there because they were taken advantage of sexually and became pregnant whilst working for their parole. It was taken as their fault, and they were put back in the system. Some were allowed to marry. Their husband became their parole officer. If he wished to, he could report his wife for any trivial, true, or not true infraction, and she would go straight back into the system. Some of these women were re-incarcerated at Cascade several times.

It saddens me to think that this happened. It saddens me to think they tried to cover it up. It saddens me to think that the way these women (and children) were treated made for a bigger problem. There were a lot of success stories from these prisons. Often, they were the ones who learnt to put up with the system in order to get out of it. There were a lot of failures, too. I guess it boils down to personalities and circumstances. I probably wouldn’t have survived this wrecking ball of a system. So hats off to those that did!

Reflection is a powerful thing!

 YouTube @jabindajoey LIKE SUBSCRIBE & hit the bell to GET NOTIFIED
Follow our travels around Australia, our homeland

🎵 Song: 'AERØHEAD - Lost Memories' is under a Free for YouTube license
 [ Ссылка ] 🎶 Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть