Sexual Violence Communication Between Men and Women

Divergent Findings Highlight the Need for Replication Studies or the Use of Innovative Methods

“…In a Letter to the Editor entitled "Sexual Violence Communication Between Men and Women", Ferreira et al (2021) discuss the interpretation of the results found by Sanchez et al (2019). First, we must elucidate that we were delighted by the fact that our article was read in detail.…”

“…We understand the points raised by Ferreira et al (2021), but we would like to discuss what would be the alternative hypotheses to justify the results found. At this point, it would be essential to have replication epidemiological studies to validate the findings or, even, studies with alternative designs to understand.…”

“…In an attempt to raise hypotheses to justify the finding, Sanchez et al (2019) suggested, in their discussion section, that this divergence of findings "could be related to the fact that women are less prone to report sexual aggression than men." This sentence generated discomfort in Ferreira et al (2021), stating that they disagreed with this hypothesis. We respect their position, but two facts drew our attention.…”

“…Second, the references used to justify the disagreement are not comparable to the study they have criticized. Ferreira et al (2021) presented arguments based on studies on prevalence of sexual abuse among children, in which the experience of sexual abuse was reported mainly by girls. The Sanchez et al (2019) study was focused on alcohol-related harms among men and women who attend nightlife settings, i.e., it involved nightlife patrons aged 18 years old or more, reporting violence inside nightclubs.…”