Number of reported sexual offences on the increase

In the period from January-November 2011, the police in Finland recorded 2,809 reports of sexual offences.
      The figure is significantly higher than in the preceding years.
      Detective Chief Inspector Ritva Elomaa, the head of the violent crimes unit of the Helsinki Police Department, comments that she is not surprised by the figures.
      “Our sexual crimes unit has been very busy for the last six months”, she says.
     
     
Number of reported child sexual abuse cases has gone up by hundreds
     
      Last year the police in Finland filed more crime reports related to sexual abuse of children than ever before, at least since 2005. More aggravated cases of the crime were also reported.
      In January-November 2011, the total number of child sexual abuse cases was 1,175, against only 756 in 2005.
      Nevertheless, from the trend in the reporting of offences one cannot draw the automatic conclusion that the number of committed offences would have increased in proportion to the number of filed complaints.
      The number of the filed child sexual abuse cases depends, for example, on people’s eagerness to report such offences, as well as on the police’s keenness and resources to solve such crimes.
      “I cannot pinpoint a single factor that would explain the increased number of the filed reports”, says DCI Ritva Elomaa from the Helsinki Police.
      According to Elomaa, even more cases would surface if the police were able to allocate more staff to investigate such crimes.
     
Amendment to law has increased the number of rape reports
     
      The number of rapes and aggravated rapes reported to the police also went up clearly from the 2010 figures. DCI Elomaa believes that at least partly this is down to a change in a law.
      Since June, sexual intercourse with a person who has passed out has been classified as rape.
      Previously, the act was viewed as rape only if the perpetrator had incapacitated the victim, for example with alcohol or drugs.
      Otherwise, the case was seen as sexual abuse rather than rape, resulting in a more lenient punishment.
      “We receive quite a few such cases”, Elomaa says.
      The amendment would seem only partly to explain the increase in the number of reported rapes, for the number of filed sexual abuse cases has remained more or less at last year’s level.
     
New grooming amendment leads to 14 reported cases
     
      In June, a new so-called grooming section was added to the Penal Code, making it illegal to entice children into having sex, for example through the Internet.
      Between the start of June and the end of November, 14 reports of such an offence were filed by the police.
      Elomaa believes that the new grooming statute will not be in wide use in Finland.
      “Our previous laws with regard to sexual abuse of children and the attempted sexual abuse of children are extensive enough to cover most forms of such crimes”, she points out.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Considerable regional variation in police success in solving crimes of sexual assault (17.3.2011)
  Modelling agency director gets 12-year sentence for rape and human trafficking (8.12.2011)
  Finnish courts seen to downplay significance of psychological pain in rape cases (1.8.2011)
  Shedding light on child abuse among the Laestadians (19.4.2011)

See also:
  Helsinki police reveal sexual abuse of more than 60 children across Finland (27.3.2009)
  Risikko: protecting children more important than confidentiality in pastoral care (17.5.2010)
  Prosecutor to appeal police officer´s lenient rape sentence (5.2.2010)