Gevangenis of toevluchtsoord? Vrouwen en de Rijkswerkinrichtingen in Nederland 1886-1934

Weevers, M.H.A.C. (2025)

Doctoral Thesis

More than a thousand women ended up in a state labour institution (SLI) in the Netherlands between 1886 and 1934. Why did they end up there? The nuisance caused by vagrants in many Western countries reached a peak in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This led to new measures and institutions. In the Netherlands, it resulted in the transformation of the existing beggars' colonies into state labour institutions. Beggars and vagrants risked being sent to a SLI for at least three months up to a maximum of three years. Here they were forced to work. Courts could only sentence people to the SLI who were capable of working. The many women with disabilities or illnesses in this institution raised the question of whether their punishment was solely the result of persecution by the police and justice. Could some of them have been the agents of their own incarceration? In order to answer this question, their path to, in and out of the SLI was followed using various sources. These show that several poor, single, old and ill women used the SLI as a temporary emergency solution, making it function as both a prison and a refuge.

• Netherlands
• Nineteenth century
• Vagrancy
• Beggars
• Gender
• Agency
• Incarceration
• Female drunkenness

• All authors: Weevers, M.H.A.C.
• Supervisor: Heijden, M.P.C. van der; Koster, M. de
• Committee: Schrover, M.L.J.C.; Kok, J.; Pluskota, M.; Ruberg, W.G.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute for History, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2025-01-28