In those days, when the local community labelled a young woman as highly unreliable at work or if she was judged to have broken the accepted moral code, she risked being medically diagnosed as "morally retarded". Among the "symptoms" were vagrancy, thieving or sexual insatiability. Such offenders could then be deported to an island: men to Livø and women to Sprogø. In both cases for an indefinite time.

However, since the institution on Sprogø was not a prison, being sent to Sprogø was not a punishment. On the other hand, the inmates were not free either.

The two island institutions were created out of a fear that the number of "degenerates" might increase. Society's solution was to encourage "healthy" persons to have more children and force "unhealthy" people to have fewer.

"Unhealthy" people, therefore, were quarantined. Stirilisation of the mentally ill, which was legalised in the 1934 Sterilisation Act, was the most radical step to secure a "healthy" population. Between 1923-1938, 86 women were sterilised with many others suffering af similar fate later on.

The isolation and treatment of the women on Sprogø was also part of an attempt to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, for financial reasons, society had an interest in reducing the number of illegitimate children as far as possible so that parishes would not have to look after them.

The women on Sprogø were engaged in agricultural and domestic duties and lived as normal a "family" life as possible. In short, the aim was to "normailise" the women even if they were constantly told that they were "abnormal."

Since the women on Sprogø were generally regarded as incurable, the main function of the institution was to act as a deterrent to the rest of the society.

Read more about the institution at forsorgshistorien.dk (Danish only)