Amnesty International criticises Finnish rape legislation
Organisations say victims should not veto prosecution
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The human rights organisation Amnesty International has sharply criticised Finnish legislation on crimes of sexual assault. The organisation has made a comparative study on sex crime law and legal practice of four Nordic Countries. The results of the study were published on Tuesday.
Amnesty feels that Finland’s rape clauses are not necessarily in accordance with international law.
In Finland, rape is largely defined according to whether or not physical violence has been used. The actions of the victim are also taken into account.
According to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the European Court of Human rights, the significant aspect in defining an act as rape is that the victim has not consented to having sex. The degree to which the victim resists is not seen as relevant.
Amnesty notes that in Finland, if a woman is unable to resist sexual advances because she is asleep or intoxicated, the crime can be defined as sexual abuse, which is punished more leniently than rape.
Amnesty also criticises Finland for the practice according to which in some cases, prosecuting a suspected rapist requires action on the part of the victim. In Sweden, Denmark, and Norway this is not the case.
Under Finnish law, rape is divided into aggravated rape, rape, and coerced sexual contact. Of these, coerced contact is “complainant offence”, which is only prosecuted if the victim presses charges.
A prosecutor can also refrain from pressing charges if a victim asks of his or her “firm will” that charges not be levelled against the perpetrator.
Amnesty feels that these kinds of stipulations make violence a private matter, leaving it up to the victim to decide if a crime has been committed or not. The organisation feels that punishing the perpetrator of a crime is a matter for the state, and not the victim.
Amnesty recommends that the lesser sexual crimes should not require action by the victim for prosecution to take place.
Helsingin Sanomat
