Calls for Urgent Reform as Rights Violations Plague Minors in French Psychiatric Care

On December 4, the General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL), Dominique Simonnot, released a stark report exposing severe human rights violations affecting children hospitalized in psychiatric care across France. The report, based on numerous complaints and visits to mental health facilities, reveals that the current system often subjects minors to illegal practices such as prolonged isolation and restraint, severely infringing on their fundamental rights.

In 2023, approximately 52,000 children aged between 4 and 17 were hospitalized in psychiatric institutions. Many of these minors were placed in adult units due to a lack of dedicated spaces, exposing them to inappropriate environments. Simonnot highlighted cases where children, including a 12-year-old, endured isolation for an entire day or were restrained for over a day without adequate monitoring, even under "voluntary care" designations where such measures are legally restricted.

The report criticizes the deteriorating conditions in some hospitals and points to the inadequacies of medical and educational support provided to these children. This situation contravenes protections guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the French public health code.

Simonnot proposes the urgent establishment of a "legal status for hospitalized minors" in psychiatry to explicitly prohibit harmful practices like isolation and restraint. This new status would ensure children in psychiatric care receive appropriate protections and resources tailored to their specific needs.

This call for reform follows an earlier 2017 CGLPL report that similarly urged strengthened protections for minors in psychiatric institutions. The continual recurrence of these issues underscores the pressing need for systemic change to uphold the rights and dignity of vulnerable children undergoing mental health treatment in France.