Finland

Finland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR and has conducted victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime incidents. The Finnish police closely co-operate with the Finnish Human Rights League, the Finnish Red Cross and Finnish Victim Support to develop a co-ordinated response to combat hate crimes. These organizations, along with the national police and other key authorities, form a network tasked by Finland's Ministry of Justice with monitoring hate crime in Finland and developing effective preventative measures. 

In 2017, Finland implemented ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme, training over 1,000 police officers. The programme’s hate crime modules have since been integrated into pre- and in-service training for police.

Hate crime data collection in Finland
Support for hate crime victims in Finland
Hate crime capacity building in Finland
Finland's hate crime legislation
 
Download the 2024 hate crime report for Finland

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year Hate crimes recorded by police Prosecuted Sentenced
2024 1413 205 27
2023 1,361 49 48
2022 1,094 121 27
2021 1,390 44 30
2020 1177 48 42
2019 900 22 17
2018 880 55 21
2017 1497 63 37
2016 1311 N/A N/A
2015 1704 Not available Not available
2014 954 Not available Not available
2013 904 Not available Not available
2012 836 38 12
2011 1418 29 12
2010 1407 38 Not available
2009 1580 41 Not available

About 2024 Data

    In addition to hate crimes, police also record cases of criminal forms of intolerance, such as defamation, criminal discrimination, and incitement offences. These data are reported to ODIHR but are not included in the overall figure or in the breakdown below, since they fall outside the OSCE hate crime definition.

    Owing to the absence of a tracking system among prosecution and the courts, the number of indictments and sentences presented here may be much lower than the actual numbers.

Hate crime recorded by police

Cases of defamation, discrimination and incitement offences, which were reported to ODIHR, are not included in the breakdown below as they fall outside the OSCE definition of hate crime. 

National developments

At the end of 2023, the Finnish police updated the guidelines on "Identifying, Investigating and Recording a Suspected Hate Crime or a Crime with Elements of a Hate Crime in Police Work (POL-2023-127636)". The updated guidelines clarify and strengthen the procedures for recognizing and handling hate crimes within police operations.

From 2023 to 2024, Finland's Ministry of Justice coordinated the EU-funded Peer Action against Hate project. The project partners included the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Finland, Seta LGBTI Rights in Finland, the Centre for Peace Studies (Croatia), and the Irish Network Against Racism. One of the project's work packages was titled "Filling the gaps in victim support services". The objective of the work package was to increase knowledge of support mechanisms and reporting channels, to strengthen the expertise of professionals in addressing hate crime and harmful prejudice, identify the needs of victims of hate crime, and to support the authorities by enhancing awareness of the available materials and tools.

Actions of the work package included a mapping of victims’ needs, national round-table discussions, and training sessions. The training sessions in Croatia, Finland, and Ireland directly strengthened the capabilities of professionals and civil society actors by providing tailored knowledge and practical tools to address hate crimes and support victims. 

Additionally, the ODIHR-led Training of Trainers (ToT) further amplified the project's impact by equipping participants with methodologies to sustain peer learning and disseminate knowledge within their communities. In addition to the training session, the Ministry of Justice created an eLearning tool for professionals working with children on how to prevent and combat discrimination and hate incidents. The eLearning tool is available for everyone for free. Also, the renovated equality.fi website includes information for hate crime victims.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR recognizes Finland's efforts to strengthen police procedures for recognizing and handling hate crimes. Based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Finland would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of criminal justice professionals to address and record hate crimes.

ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States committed to introducing or further developing professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution, and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes. ODIHR stands ready to support Finland in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for prosecution and the judiciary.

Our methodology
 

OVERVIEW OF INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY

For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Finland from the following civil society organizations:

  • European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses
  • International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF)
  • The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC)

To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page. 

All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that were broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories

ODIHR’s insights

For 2024, ODIHR received reports of three hate incidents that took place in Finland in the following bias motivation categories: anti-Christian and anti-Muslim.

ODIHR observes that only a small number of incidents in Finland were reported. ODIHR highlights that all of the reported incidents were attacks against property.

It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting on Finland relating to anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBTI, racist and xenophobic, gender-based, other religion or belief, or disability hate incidents. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here.

Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Finland. 

To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents in Finland to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl. 

To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Finland click here and search by year and country.

CIVIL SOCIETY INCIDENT SUMMARIES

Anti-Christian hate crime

Date Type of incident Source Description
2023-05 Threats/Harassment
Jehovah's Witnesses
 Show info
2023-05 Threats/Harassment
Jehovah's Witnesses
 Show info
2023-07 Threats/Harassment
Jehovah's Witnesses
 Show info

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

No information is available.