Many parents on social media have criticized the refusal of some supermarkets to let them go shopping with their children because of the coronavirus epidemic. "These practices infringe upon the rights of individuals, particularly the rights of single parents and the best interests of their children " warned the Defender of Rights (DDD) on Wednesday April 8.
Say @intermarche ! You find it normal for a single mother to be turned away from the entrance to your supermarket in #Montivilliers because she has her 5 year old child with her? In full confinement, should she leave him in his car alone for food? Shameful! # COVID19
– Elodie Dlny (@elodlny) April 1, 2020
For these supermarkets, this is a preventive measure to protect their customers from the Covid-19. They raise the possibility that toddlers are healthy carriers of the virus that could infect customers.
Child rights bans
In its press release, the DDD explained that it had received several reports from parents refused at the entrance to food stores because they were with their children. "While many families are single parents, the effect of these refusals is either to make it impossible to access essential goods or to harm the best interests of the children by requiring that they be left alone at the door of the shop."
The institution recalled that "the refusal of access of children to food stores is not part of the restrictive measures relating to the fight against spread of the Covid-19 virus". She also stressed that these prohibitions violate the right of the child to be protected from any form of violence.
These prohibitions are therefore not authorized by law: "Food stores cannot therefore legally prohibit their access to people accompanied by one or more children, nor ask these people to leave their children at the entrance of the store, including at the checkout or guard 'a vigil " insisted the DDD.
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