Reacción a "Reactions: health impact of intimate partner violence against women and child sexual abuse evaluated"

The study deals with a subject of great impact and importance for the physical, psychological, social and sexual health of the population, and specifically of women. There is still a need for scientific contributions that help to understand the consequences of having suffered violence for all aspects of health in our society. To be able to understand these consequences, having up-to-date, scientifically rigorous information and sharing it with society is undoubtedly the way to develop effective preventive programmes. For these reasons, it is of great relevance to continue putting efforts into research and studies such as the present one. 

The authors collect information and studies from an extensive period, including an extensive search and review. The conclusions are based on solid data from previously published studies, gathering and analysing the scientific background and updating knowledge. Particularly noteworthy in this work is the joint analysis of two types of violence that may seem different but are very likely to be connected, child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. Both include the terrible fact that the person who is supposed to love and protect the victim is the one who inflicts the harm, creating a situation of dissonance. The consequences of living through these situations are not unique to the victim, but have an impact on the whole of society and its health system. The study highlights that the scientific community is still on the way to comprehensively identifying and understanding both types of violence, and opens the door to studying and considering violence against women and children together, focusing on the study of violence throughout life and perhaps analysing the possible relationships between both types of violence. There is still some way to go, and the fact that both types of violence are part of an often silenced reality that is highly complex to study makes it a challenge for future research. 

The clinical implications of this study are to better understand violence and its consequences, as well as to focus adequate attention on the victims. Raising awareness and making these abuses visible are key to tackling the reality.