Sexual violence means that someone forces or manipulates someone else into unwanted sexual activity without their consent. Such violence can take place in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, as well as outside intimate relationships. All sexual offenses violate the basic right of sexual self-determination. In Finland, sexual violence and taking advantage of a person is always a crime, even if the assaulter was the victim's spouse, relative or friend. Sexual offences include but are not limited to rape, forcing someone into a sexual act and taking sexual advantage of a person.
Statistics
Prevalence Estimating the prevalence of sexual violence in Finland is difficult, because a considerable number of assaults go unreported to the police. The several different estimates for the number of rapes occurring in Finland each year are based on research on the victims of the assaults, calls and contacts the Rape Crisis Center Tukinainen has received, and also on police estimates. For example, according to the Rape Crisis Center, they receive 1000–1200 calls and attempted calls each month. People have become more likely to report an assault to the police in recent years. In 2000, there were 579 cases of rape and 504 cases of sexual assault of a child reported. These numbers have increased significantly since then, and in 2018, there were 1393 cases of rape and 1373 cases of sexual exploitation of a child reported. Younger people are at increased risk of violent victimization. The risk of physical assault is highest between the ages of 15 and 34 years.
The Nordic countries are often praised for their achievements on gender equality, but according to a 2012 study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 47 percent of women in Finland have experienced physical or sexual violence from anyone at some point since the age of 15. Out of the 28 European Union countries that were studied in the survey, only Danish women were found to have experienced more. However National Finnish studies and questionnaires performed by Kansallinen rikosuhritutkimus (National Crime Survey) have found numbers only close to one eighth of that. The FRA study included being grabbed or shoved by anyone as violence in the results of the questionnaire. In the study, 11 percent of Finnish women said to have experienced sexual violence by a non-partner, while the EU average for sexual violence by a non-partner is 6 percent. Furthermore, 11 percent of Finnish women said that they have experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner. This statistic is also higher than the EU average, which is 7 percent. According to a 1998 study by Markku Heiskanen and Minna Piispa one woman in five had at least experienced physical violence once by their present partner. One-half of those who had been victims of intimate partner violence had suffered some kind of physical injury from the assault, against one-third of those who had experienced non-partner violence. Over one out of four women who had lived in a violent couple relationship had sought help from a shelter, the police, a lawyer's or a legal aid office or other institutions. The violence experienced by the women generally occurred in couple relationships. This study was carried out by taking a systematic sample of 7100 Finnish and Swedish-speaking women aged 18- to 74-year-olds from the Central Population Register. The Women Peace and Security Index ranks Finland as the fourth safest country for women out of 177, with Denmark as 1st.
Report and conviction rates According to the Central Statistical Office of Finland, in 1998 and before the 1999 law reform on sexual offenses (1994–1998), police were able to solve on average 55 percent of the cases reported to them, and in less than 10 percent of the rape cases, the process led to a conviction. After the reform, the processing of rapes and other sexual assaults has become more efficient. More cases have been reported, and the police have been better able to solve them, increasing the number of convicted assaulters and therefore bringing the percentage of solved cases up to 64 percent in 2003, which is about 367 cases. Even at this increased rate of reporting, Amnesty International says that fewer than 10 per cent of rapes are estimated to be reported to the police in Finland.
The rate at which charges are pressed after a rape varies depending on the type of assault. When a rape is done by stranger, only 8 percent of charges are pressed, because often the identity of the perpetrator can never be solved. In the case of rapes that takes place when the perpetrator and the victims have just met each other or already know each other, the victim presses charges for 19 percent of the cases. However, in these cases, the process often stops because the police cannot solve the crime, the case ends up being classified as not fulfilling the characteristics of a rape, or the victim requests that the charges be dropped. In a significant number of cases, a sufficient amount of evidence for a conviction is not available to the police.
The Central Statistical Office also states that prior to 1999, police did not report about a third of all rape cases to the prosecutor. After the reform, this number has decreased to one tenth of all cases that come to the attention of the police. In 2003, 337 cases were reported to the prosecutor, which is about 92 percent of solved rapes. In their briefing published in March 2012, the Finnish Department of Justice stated that with the reform that took place in 2011 (the characteristics of rape were expanded so that now sexual interaction with anyone who can be considered defenseless is in all circumstances a rape) it is expected that the number of cases where the accused is convicted of a rape will increase considerably.
The sentences of the convicted have been getting longer: on the latter half of 1990, the sentences got longer by about half a year, and even in the last decade there has been a slight increase in the sentences given to convicted sexual offenders. This harshening of the sentences has a connection to the revision that was done to the law on sexual offenses in 1999.
In 2008, the average time of the judicial process from the date the rape happened to the date of the conviction is 1.5 years.
Law
From January 2023 The Ministry of Justice in Finland enacted new legislation on sexual offences effective from January 2023, prioritizing sexual self-determination and personal integrity. Under the reform, the definition of rape has been revised to emphasize the necessity of voluntary participation in sexual intercourse. The legislation also expands the scope of sexual harassment to include acts beyond physical touching and introduces penalties for the non-consensual dissemination of sexual images. Furthermore, the reform enhances protection for children's integrity and imposes stricter penalties for offences against them. These changes aim to combat various forms of sexual abuse, including online harassment.
The new legislation on sexual offences strengthens the legal framework in the following areas:
Definition of rape Definition of sexual assault Definition of sexual harassment Non-consensual dissemination of a sexual image Sexual offences against children
Prior to January 2023 The guidelines for sexual offenses was revised with a law that came into effect 1. January 1999. With this revision, sexual offenses were divided into three levels of graveness based on how severe the act is. The three levels are rape, aggravated rape and forcing someone to a sexual act. The revision also affects the cause of action.
The sections below are translated from the Finnish Penal Code.
Rape 1 § (27.6.2014/509)
If a person forces someone into sexual intercourse by using violence or threat of violence, the person is to be convicted for rape. The convicted should receive a jail sentence of at least one and at most six years. It is also considered rape if the assaulter takes advantage of the victim being unconscious, sick, disabled, in a state of fear or if the victim is in any other way considered unable to defend themselves or to express their consent or the lack of consent. If some of the factors above are lacking evidence, the accused should be sentenced to at least four months or at most four years in prison.
Attempted rape is also punishable.
Aggravated rape 2 § (27.6.2014/509) A rape is considered aggravated if: serious physical injury, serious illness or a life-threatening state occurs the crime is committed by multiple people, or in especially considerable mental or physical suffering results from the crime the victim is 18 years old or younger the crime is committed in a way that is particularly brutal, harsh, or humiliating if a firearm, an edged weapon or another life-threatening device is used, or if the victim is threatened with severe violence
If the rape is aggravated when judged comprehensively, the accused should be convicted for aggravated rape and sentenced to a minimum of two years and a maximum of ten years in prison.
An attempted aggravated rape is also punishable.
Coercing someone into a sexual act 4 § (24.7.1998/563) If the accused forced the victim into an act other than those stated in 1 § by using violence or the threat of it, or if the accused forced the victim to submit to any of these acts, it clearly violates the victim's right of sexual self-determination and the accused should be convicted for forcing someone into a sexual act and sentenced with either a fine or jail time for up to three years.
An accused should also be sentenced if the assaulter takes advantage of the victim being unconscious, sick, disabled, in a state of fear or if the victim is in any other way considered unable to defend themselves or to express their consent or the lack of consent, and gets the victim to do an act described in the paragraph above or if the accused forced the victim into submitting to one of these acts, therefore considerably violating the victim's right of self-determination. (13.5.2011/495)
An attempt is also punishable.
Sexual abuse 5 § (24.7.1998/563) A person can be convicted if he/she takes advantage of their situation or relation to the victim to coerce them to sexual interaction or to another act that considerably violates the victim's right of sexual self-determination, or if the victim is coerced so submit to a similar act that violates sexual self-determination, when: the victim is younger than 18 years, and is in school or at another institution where he/she is under the assaulter's authority or supervision, or in another situation similar to these where the perpetrator is clearly in a position that makes him/her superior the victim is younger than 18 years, and their ability to independently make decisions about their sexual behavior is considerably weaker than that of the perpetrator because of the victim's level of maturity and the possible age difference between the perpetrator and the victim, with the perpetrator clearly taking advantage of the victim's immaturity the victim is being treated in a hospital or another institution, and their ability to defend themselves and form or voice an opinion is limited because of illness, disability or another state of inability, or (27.6.2014/509) the victim is particularly dependent on the perpetrator, who gravely takes advantage of this dependency
Should be convicted for taking sexual advantage and sentenced to fines or up to four years in prison.
Sexual abuse of a child 6 § (20.5.2011/540) A person can be convicted for sexual abuse of a child, if they touched or in another way commit a sexual act that is likely to cause harm to a child's development or get the child to commit a similar sexual act. Anyone who is under 16 years old is considered a child. If convicted, the perpetrator should be sentenced to a minimum of four months and maximum of four years in jail.