Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses, Ms. Lemeltier, Ms. Pontel, Ms. Nepinak, Ms. Kang and Mr. Taras, for taking the time to speak with us today. We are gaining a lot of insight into an important problem.
My first question is for Ms. Lemeltier, of the Alliance des maisons d'hébergement de 2e étape pour femmes et enfants victimes de violence conjugale.
Ms. Lemeltier, you talked about an important tool in addressing domestic violence, the electronic bracelet. You mention it in your brief to the Quebec National Assembly's Committee on Institutions, as part of its examination of Bill 24.
More or less, this is what you say in your brief:
[A] number of recent government initiatives have clearly established the need to apply a specific lens when family dynamics involve domestic violence, in which one spouse (usually the father) exerts coercive control over the other spouse (the mother) and by extension the children. Coercive control involves a dynamic of control and domination within a relationship between intimate partners where the abuser increases the number of attacks to gain total control over the victim, completely inhibiting the victim's freedom to be and act as they wish.
Can you elaborate on that statement, Ms. Lemeltier?