Victoria A. Ferrer Pérez
Professor of Social Psychology of Gender in the Department of Psychology and head of the Gender Studies research group
Intimate partner violence against women and child sexual abuse are two serious social problems, but also health problems, not least because of the consequences they have on the physical, mental and social health of their victims.
This is why studies such as that of Spencer et al. (2023) are very welcome: they provide solid evidence on these consequences based on a systematic review of the literature on the subject, which allows us not only to broaden our knowledge on the subject, but also to develop more and better lines of intervention for tertiary prevention (minimisation of sequelae) in these cases.
It should be noted, however, that this work focuses on a limited number of consequences (5 in the case of intimate partner violence against women, 15 in the case of sexual abuse), which, although relevant, are not the only ones.
Therefore, it is to be hoped and encouraged that researchers will continue to advance and deepen the study of the subject, extending the work to other equally relevant and disabling consequences that also need to be addressed on the basis of solid evidence of their incidence and prevalence.