During confinement, many parents who cannot do otherwise have been prohibited from entering a supermarket accompanied by their child, although this is illegal.
On social media and in the press, parents who were single or whose spouse worked said they wanted to go shopping with their children, but were refused entry to the supermarket. The Defender of Rights had already warned that stores were not allowed to take such measures, and Marlène Schiappa denounces "the stigma of single mothers " on BFM TV.
Invited to the channel on Saturday April 18, the State Secretary for Gender Equality and the Fight against Discrimination explained: "I opened an email for reports". According to Marlène Schiappa, the address [email protected] received numerous complaints in a short time. "In a few days, we received over 800 alerts from single mothers who told us that they were rejected at the entrance to the store or that they were asked to leave their children at the checkout", she says on BFM TV. A few days earlier, on Franceinfo, she explained that she had also received reports from single fathers. These parents explained that they were "alone with their children – either because they are single or because their spouse works", and that they could not find a childcare arrangement during confinement.
"The state services that I mobilized on this subject directly call the stores to initiate a dialogue, because very often it is not in bad faith on the part of the stores, it is that they plan to follow the guidelines ", according to Marlène Schiappa. It therefore recalls that grocery stores, supermarkets and other stores which are authorized to open during confinement do not have the right to refuse entry to accompanied parents: "There are no instructions from the store saying that children are not allowed to go out and no government instructions saying that children are not allowed to go into a store."
Containment: what is the food to favor for our children?
Read also: A single mother sends a message to people who think she is shopping with her daughter (photo)
Follow us on Pinterest.
To find our best articles on Messenger, subscribe here.
by Mélodie Capronnier