Thanks for playing and for all the kind words! I'm really glad you had fun during your adventure with Violet :)
Regarding battle, once you get the sword, as long as you're adjacent to and facing an enemy, you'll automatically hit when you press ENTER or Leftclick them. You'll see her little swing (or poke, if you're facing up), then see the slash animation on the enemy and they'll fall (and you'll take damage, and she'll make a random excited baby noise :D ).
Before you get the sword though, all that happens is you take damage and she screams. Her little baby fists are alas poor weapons.
I wonder if maybe it was before you go the sword that nothing was happening? If not, let me know what circumstances the hits weren't clear in if you get a chance so I can dig into it...everything seems to be working but I could easily have missed something.