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.

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 2023 hate crime report for Finland

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 2023 Data

    In addition to hate crimes, police also record cases of criminal forms of intolerance, such as defamation (636) and criminal discrimination (78). These data are reported to ODIHR but are not included in the overall figure or in the breakdown below as they fall outside the OSCE hate crime definition.
    The number of indictments and sentences provided by the Ministry of Justice may be much lower than actual indictments and sentences due to the fact that the Prosecutors and Courts do not have a tracking system.

Hate crime recorded by police

Cases of defamation and discrimination reported to ODIHR are not included in the breakdown below as they fall outside the OSCE definition of hate crime. With the consent of the Roma community, hate crimes against Roma people have been presented as a separate category below.

National developments

On 1 January 2023, a legislative amendment to make a gender-based motive an aggravating circumstance entered into force (Chapter 6, section 5 of the Criminal Code). The amendment was approved by the Finnish Parliament in December 2022.

In 2023, the Ministry of Justice co-ordinated a number of EU-funded projects aimed at combating hate speech and hate crime, including "Peer Action against Hate", designed to improve the effectiveness of addressing racism, discrimination and hate crimes through peer learning with the support of authorities and civil society actors. Project partners are the Ministry of Social affairs and health, Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland, the Irish Network against Racism, and the Centre for Peace Studies (Croatia). As part of the project, the Ministry of Justice co-ordinates a network of authorities and CSO's working to combat hate speech and hate crime. Other activities include collecting information on the availability, adequacy and accessibility of support services to victims of hate crimes in Finland. The project also organizes trainings for professionals on preventing hate speech and hate crime, as well as on supporting hate crime victims.

As part of another EU-funded project ('Osaavat') co-ordinated by the Ministry of Justice, a study was conducted by the Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy to examine the characteristics of hate crime perpetrators based on international research literature and data obtained from Finnish registers.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR recognizes Finland's efforts to improve coordination among authorities and civil society actors, and to strengthen access to support services to hate crime victims. However, based on the available information, ODIHR observes that Finland would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of prosecutors to address and record 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 prosecution and judiciary.

Our methodology

INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY

🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.

🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.

🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.

🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.

🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.

🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.

Anti-Christian hate crime

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

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

No information is available.