Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for coming to speak to the committee. Today is an important day. It's the 25th International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Yesterday or this morning, the United Nations, or UN, released figures showing that 85,000 women and girls were intentionally killed in 2023. A woman is killed every 10 minutes on this planet. It's staggering.
This morning, on the radio and in multiple media outlets, a number of analysts and journalists weighed in on this issue. That's a good thing. For example, Louise Riendeau, from the Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, basically said that women who lack housing have no way out. We can address this issue later.
Mr. Dagher, director of the City of Montreal's police department, was deeply moved this morning on the Radio‑Canada radio. He implored women to turn to the police. Yet we know that the police can hinder reporting, because women don't necessarily trust the system, unfortunately. They worry that they won't be believed and that the process will take too long. Moreover, they feel that, in any case, no one understands domestic violence and all that it entails. Ms. Zaccour and I talked about this in connection with the parental alienation issue. In short, they fear the potential negative impact.
Ms. Richer, what are your thoughts on Mr. Dagher's comments this morning?
I'll then turn to Ms. Zaccour.