You’ll never forget that image of Rihanna from 2009, after she was beaten by her then-boyfriend, R&B singer Chris Brown. But can you forgive?

Apparently, Rihanna can: On Monday, she released a remix of her hit song Birthday Cake featuring an appearance by Brown.

“I’ve been missing your body,” he raps, while she adds: “I know you wanna bite this, it’s so enticing.” (The YouTube video she posted has no images, just text that says: “Yikes.”)

Meanwhile, Brown released a track called Turn Up the Music with vocals by Rihanna.

Earlier that day – Rihanna’s 24th birthday – the duo also tweeted one another sweet messages.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN,” wrote Brown, using her birth name. Rihanna thanked him via retweet, just minutes later.

Their apparent reconciliation comes after controversy last week, when Brown was featured prominently at the Grammys, indicating the music industry has also forgiven him.

Tweeting after the show last week, musician Miranda Lambert wrote: “Where I come from, beating up on a women is never OK.”

The whole drama leaves us wondering what this says to women who have been victims of assault within a romantic relationship.

Dr. Sheri Jacobson, clinical director of Harley Therapy, a psychotherapy centre, believes it could send a disturbing message about how maltreatment can be overlooked, or even accepted.

“In a romantic sense, it has the danger of a creating a false reality as not everyone has the mental or emotional capacity for change,” she tells Metro.

“Hopefully it won’t encourage people to look up to Rihanna and Brown as a new ideal, and make them think it’s OK to go back to a violent partner.”

On the other hand, Brown seems to have learned from his mistakes. He has apologized on television for the 2009 incident.

“I’d like to think that we can believe in people to repair, heal and develop,” says Jacobson.

“Brown appears to have learned his lesson and has certainly paid heavily for his behaviour toward Rihanna.

In that light, it would be distressing if they were to be frowned upon – one strike and he’s out.

“If you really care for someone,” she continues, “as seems to be the case here, you tend to overlook and tolerate their behaviour. You can’t carry it through without some kind of human emotion, romantic or not.

“And whatever happens between them, people will always be watching.”