an Igas report denounces mistreatment in nurseries

It is a sector where both the best and the worst coexist. The quality of reception is “very disparate” in crèches, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) is alarmed in a report published on Tuesday, April 11. The Igas thus calls for profound reforms to better prevent child abuse. The inspectors visited 36 public and private establishments throughout France and distributed a questionnaire to which 5,275 directors, 12,545 crèche employees and 27,671 parents responded.

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Next to nurseries “of high quality, supported by in-depth pedagogical reflection”, we also find “establishments of very degraded quality”, which can lead “deficiencies in emotional security and in awakening” toddlers, underline the authors of this report commissioned by the government after a tragedy that occurred in a crèche in Lyon in June 2022.

Insults and physical abuse

Many of the adults interviewed described situations akin to abuse, the authors point out. They evoke children forgotten on the toilet, deprived of a nap for lack of sufficient beds or, on the contrary, left crying until they fall asleep.

Other testimonies mention children who are not given anything to drink “that way, we change diapers less”who are left too long in their soiled diapers, who are humiliated or insulted by saying “you chouines for nothing”, “you smell bad”forced to eat or even physically abused by pulling their hair or tying them to a radiator.

Faced with these findings, “all recommendations” of this document will be taken into account, assured Tuesday in a press release the Minister of Solidarity, Jean-Christophe Combe, who wishes “act quickly”. The Minister is expected to announce measures later this spring, as part of the “public childcare service” promised by Emmanuel Macron. For her part, Charlotte Caubel, Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, in charge of Children, reacted in a tweet and promised to be “vigilant to the implementation of recommendations and controls”.