Finland
Finland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Finland has conducted victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crimes. The Finnish police closely co-operates 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 crimes in Finland and developing adequate measures to prevent such crimes. Finland implemented ODIHR's Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme in 2017 and went on to train over 1,000 police officers on hate crimes before integrating the programme's hate crime modules into pre- and in-service training for police.
OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES
| Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 2012 Data
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Unlike in previous years, the 2012 police figures do not include crimes of defamation, other hate speech crimes and crimes of discrimination.
Prosecution and sentencing figures only include crimes of ethnic agitation, aggravated ethnic agitation, discrimination, work discrimination and extortiate discrimination.
Hate crime recorded by police
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR observes that Finland has not reported information on the numbers of prosecuted or sentenced hate crime cases to ODIHR.
INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime
The UN Human Rights Council, in its Universal Periodic Review, encouraged Finland to continue its efforts to ensure racially motivated crimes are promptly identified, investigated and prosecuted.
Anti-LGBTI hate crime
During his visit to Finland, Nils Muižnieks, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, welcomed the specific prohibition on hate crimes based on a bias against sexual orientation and encouraged the inclusion of grounds based on bias against gender identity.