Tom Clonan (Independent)
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I thank everybody for their contributions which have helped me frame a couple of questions. My own research into discrimination and sexual violence in our armed forces is over 20 years old and as Dr. Duvvury said, we have the knowledge. We know this. In that research from 20 years ago, what struck me was that one in four of the female personnel that I interviewed experienced some form of serious sexual assault, up to and including rape. As an academic I have been involved with the expert advisory group for the Higher Education Authority on ending sexual violence and harassment on our university campuses and that figure comes up again. One in four of our students at third level can expect to experience sexual violence and harassment while on campus, in a place of safety, in a learning environment.

Ms La Combre said that one in four people experiences domestic violence. The majority are female but some men also experience it. We have heard some really interesting contributions from LGBTIQ and gay men's groups who talked about the additional stigma and barriers to reporting for men. It is absolutely clear, as Dr. Duvvury said, that we have the knowledge. We have a crisis. This affects one in four in this room, outside waiting to go into the other committee rooms and in these Houses of the Oireachtas. Those of us in Ireland who have experienced or witnessed domestic violence in the home or in our relatives' homes know that this is a crisis. There is a dynamic at play in Irish society and culture. The language for it is extensive. We have a very extensive vocabulary for it. My own personal bias, based on my life experience and research, is that we live in a predominantly patriarchal and toxic culture that reinforces these behaviours.

In that context, I have a number of questions. First, if a high profile organisation demands proof, when we know what we know, which is that this is a crisis, should that organisation and its spokespersons and leaders not be very robustly and publicly challenged for holding those views or even asking that question? Second, given the nature of domestic violence, should we not have more ambition? Five days is the absolute minimum and under any ethical test, whether Platonic or Aristotelian, that lacks courage, temperance and does not serve a wider justice. Should we not have more ambition? Rather than taking a minimum of five days, should we not take a more ambitious approach based on the evidence and the knowledge we have? We should not be bound, necessarily, by what is happening in other jurisdictions, if we know from the research that five is the bare minimum and is not enough, frankly.

Dr. Duvvury raised the issue of coercive control. Is there research to which she, Ms La Combre or any of the other witnesses can point us that might provide a useful working definition of "coercive control" that would assist us in modifying the legislation? We all know what it is, but it is emerging into the wider public discourse and is being recognised in the political narrative. It would be useful if there was a working definition.