Self-care programmes do not erase traces of violence

Even one act of violence can leave the victim in pain which is not always visible from the outside. However, this pain is real and hurts the victim from within. What has been broken by the perpetrator can be fixed by another person.

The pain left by violence seeks a compassionate witness, or one who can hear the intolerable and who allows grief and hatred to come out without flinching at screams. This kind of support cannot be found in a busy healthcare facility where the person providing support is looking at a computer screen. 

Support for recovering from sexual assault 

The Istanbul Convention, or the Council of Europe's Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, was adopted in Finland 10 years ago in 2015. Under the Convention, states must establish low-threshold support centres for victims of sexual violence.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare coordinates the Seri Support Centres for victims of sexual violence, 25 of which have been established around Finland as a result of the adoption of the Convention. Seri Support Centres offer support to victims of sexual violence under one roof. In recent years, the centres have developed psychosocial support models and practices that take the special needs of young people into account.  

The Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen provides support, assistance and advice to victims of sexual offences, their families and those working with victims. Every day, Tukinainen staff offer help and support to mainly women of different ages and in different life situations who have been victims of sexual violence. In addition to being victim of sexual violence, they bear the traces of sexual violence that make everyday life harder and manifest as different psychological and psychosomatic symptoms.

Cumulative and hidden violence causes suffering and costs

In particular, those whose have experienced a lot of violence throughout their lives and who have not received appropriate support may have lost all or part of their work ability and no longer trust other people.

Although Tukinainen staff also get to witness the joys of recovery, including new beginnings, the return of sense of security, a new relationship with intimacy, empowerment and improved welfare and functional capacity, there are also customers who are just trying to survive. A lot of time and resources could have been saved and human suffering avoided if someone had asked and lent a listening ear earlier.

Studied have been conducted on the costs of violence. The direct additional health care costs caused by the physical intimate partner violence experienced by women alone total EUR 150 million per year. Violence is especially expensive when it is not identified or treated. When violence is identified in different services, the costs caused by it start to decrease (Siltala et al. 2022). 

Towards a safer society through cooperation

According to Statistics Finland, 13,000 cases of family and intimate partner violence and over 9,000 sexual offences were brought to the authorities’ attention in 2024. Violence is hidden crime, which means that only some acts of violence are reported to the authorities. The actual number of victims of violence is considerably higher than what the statistics show. 

The public service system is responsible for identifying violence, intervening in it and handling its consequences. Only a small proportion of all those who experience violence seek help by contacting crisis services, such as shelters and Seri Support Centres. For this reason, third sector actors play a key role in the efforts against violence. Tukinainen and other organisations engaged in work against violence work act as partners of public services. 

The Istanbul Convention requires protection and services for those who have experienced violence. The organisations have a lot to offer in the development of these services. The next action plan for the Istanbul Convention, which is currently being prepared, will guide the work over the coming years to combat violence against women and to support the recovery of those who have experienced violence. 

The strength of society can be measured by how well it takes care of its most vulnerable members. Cooperation achieves the best results as it helps create a sustainable and safer society and strengthens national resilience.

Read more

Seri Support Centres in Finland (thl.fi) (in Finnish)
Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen
LAKU study