[The value of a child abuse observation clinic. Report of an experience in the area of Grenoble].

In France the epidemiology of child abuse is badly known, because of the lack of connexion between different institutions. We present a child abuse observatory set up in Grenoble in May 1987. The social, educational, judicial and medical department's services are working together. In the first 20 months, 87 cases were recorded: 57 physical abuse, 26 sexual abuse and 5 cases of abuses due to negligence. Precise information was collected concerning the victims, their siblings, the family's risk factor and the offenders, the method by which the information was obtained and the prosecution undertaken. A 10 July 1989 law enforced each Department's governor to set up a service for collecting information about child abuse. Our observatory will serve as a model for this law application.