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 |
---|---|---|---|
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 2021 Data
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In addition to hate crimes, police also record criminal forms of intolerance, such as defamation and criminal discrimination. These data are reported to ODIHR but are not included in the overall figure or in the breakdown below. The discrepancy between police records and the number of prosecuted and sentenced cases is due to the fact that only approximately 20 per cent of all hate crime cases recorded by the police were flagged using a specific hate crime code in the Police system. Only flagged cases are dealt with as hate crimes by court prosecutors.
Hate crime recorded by police
Cases of defamation and discrimination were also reported to ODIHR. These fall outside of the OSCE definition of hate crime and are not included in the breakdown below. With the consent of the Roma community, hate crimes against Roma people have been included as a separate category from Racism and Xenophobia.
KEY OBSERVATION
ODIHR recognizes Finland's efforts to improve its hate crime recording, data collection mechanisms, and local co-operation practices, as well as the submitted data on hate crime. However, based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Finland would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of prosecutors to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States committed to introduce or further develop 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 police, prosecution, and judiciary.
INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
Anti-Roma hate crime
Date | Type of incident | Source | Description |
---|---|---|---|
2021-05 | Violent attacks against people | OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights
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Show info |
INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Anti-LGBTI hate crime
The United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) published relevant recommendations in its "Finland: Compilation of information prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights".