Quality report: Shelters for victims of domestic violence
Data description
Statistical presentation
The shelter service statistics collected by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) contain information on the utilisations rates of shelters, the number of clients in shelters, the duration of client relationships, the forms of violence experienced by clients, and the clients’ background information.
THL started the regular collection of data on shelter services in 2015 when the Act on Compensation from State Funds to Shelter Service Providers (1354/2014) took effect.
The Act on Compensation from State Funds to Shelter Service Providers (in Finnish, Finlex)
All shelters are obliged to compile statistics on their activities and to submit the information to THL based on the decision on the shelter service provider. Statistics are collected annually from all Finnish shelters for victims of domestic violence.
Relevance
Under the Istanbul Convention (53/2015), Finland is obliged to collect and regularly publish statistics on the occurrence of violence against women and domestic violence. The data in the shelter statistics play a key role in monitoring the domestic violence situational picture in Finland.
The Istanbul Convention (53/2015) (in Finnish, Finlex)
The data in the shelter statistics are used in the development of the shelter network and in planning how shelter places should be distributed nationally.
The statistical report is intended especially for use by decisionmakers, authorities, shelter operators, the media and NGOs.
Data content of the statistics
The statistics cover all shelters and shelter clients in mainland Finland. The data is collected at the sum level from shelters, and the data content does not contain personal data on clients.
The statistics contain information on vacancies at shelters, the utilisations rates of shelters, the number of clients in shelters, the duration of client relationships, the forms of violence experienced by clients, and the clients’ background information.
The number of clients and days spent in the shelter, number of family places, number of persons referred to another shelter due to lack of space and utilisation rate data are published for each shelter. Client-specific background data and violence-related information is only presented at the national level.
Data related to client relationships have been collected since 2015. Information on the vacancies and utilisation rates of in shelters for victims of domestic violence has been collected since 2017.
Only the number of shelter clients and days spent in the shelter are collected as preliminary data.
The text in the statistical report describes the concepts used in the statistics.
Statistical processing
Source data
Data are collected from all Finnish shelters for victims of domestic violence. The data are collected in shelters as part of client work. Shelters extract statistical data from their client information systems and supply the data at the sum level to THL. No personal data on clients are submitted to THL for statistics.
Shelters provide preliminary data by 15 January following the statistical year. Only the number of shelter clients and days spent in the shelter are provided as preliminary data.
The actual statistical data is submitted by 1 March, and these contain a more extensive range of data than the preliminary data.
The number of vacancies at a shelter and a shelter’s utilisation rate are obtained from the Nollalinja application for the telephone helpline of the same name, and this application is the responsibility of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. THL extracts the data from the system.
Data collection
The sum level data is submitted to THL using an electronic data collection form, which each service provider fills in for its own shelter. The data is collected annually from all shelters.
The number of vacancies at shelters and the utilisation rate of shelters are calculated from the Nollalinja application, where each shelter updates their current number of vacancies on a daily basis. The daily data on vacancies is given according to the last situation of each day. Up-to-date data on the number of vacancies in shelters for victims of domestic violence has been available since 2017.
Deficiencies in data collection are corrected when they are detected.
Data validation
The accuracy of the statistics depends on the accuracy of the information supplied by the service providers. If illogical aspects or other errors are detected in the data, their background is checked with the shelter and corrected if necessary. The collected preliminary data are also compared with the responses received in connection with the actual data collection.
Data compilation
The quality of the statistical data to be published is verified manually by examining the data, and any errors, deficiencies or inconsistencies detected in the data are checked directly from the shelters that provided the data. In addition to actual statistical data collection, THL collects preliminary information each year in January on the number of clients in shelters and days spent in the shelter.
Data revision
The statistics on shelters for victims of domestic violence are based on data recorded in client encounters. The service providers submit this information to THL for statistical purposes. Not all data required for statistical purposes is necessary for managing the client’s case, meaning that the quality of the data may vary and the data may also be updated retrospectively. As a rule, the data will no longer be revised after the statistics have been published. Data from previous years can also be updated, if necessary. Changes and corrections are documented directly in the database.
Quality assessment of the statistics
Accuracy and reliability
The information in the statistics is based on the notifications of data providers, and the accuracy of the information depends mainly on the information received from the informant organisations.
In the table of appendices to the statistics, “no information” means that the service provider has stated that they have not compiled statistics on the matter in question. The mention “missing information” means that the service providers have not compiled statistics on the matter in question, nor have they reported this.
Timeliness and punctuality
The statistical period is a calendar year. The preliminary data will be published in February and the actual statistical report in May of the calendar year following the statistical year.
Coherence and comparability
THL started producing shelter statistics in 2015. Before the Act on Shelter Services took effect in 2015, shelters documented their activities independently or together with the umbrella organisation. Information on the number of clients and days spent in shelters has previously been collected nationally in the Sotkanet online service.
Sotkanet online service (in Finnish)
No changes were made to the statistics between 2015 and 2019. Since 2020, changes have been made to the variables for the statistics, which have a question-specific impact when comparing figures with previous years. The changes are presented in the Shelters for victims of domestic violence 2020 statistical report. From 2023 in Question 13: What kind of violence has the client experienced, a new variable “Digital violence” was added. The prevalence of digital violence was first reported in the 2023 statistical report.
Shelters for victims of domestic violence 2020 - statistical report (in Finnish, Julkari)
The first data collected in 2015 differed greatly in what had been recorded and how. Differences appeared as incomplete information and illogical contrasts between different questions. In 2016–2021, shelters provided information in more complete form and more punctually.
The amount of data missing in the 2022 statistics was larger than for previous years. In 2022, numerous shelters introduced document structures required when adopting use of the Social Services Client Data Repository. The introduction of the new document structures and changes in the client information systems used by the shelters influenced how some shelters were able to provide statistics by the deadline. All shelters were able to provide key statistics, such as client numbers and days spent in the shelter also in 2022. The situation is described in the quality description of the Shelters for victims of domestic violence 2022 statistical report and in Appendix table 5 of the report.
Shelters for victims of domestic violence 2022 - statistical report (Julkari)
The shelter-specific document structures (the client’s preliminary information for shelter services, initial assessment for shelters for victims of domestic violence and service plan for shelters for victims of domestic violence) were also updated in November–December 2024, which may affect some of the statistical data for 2025. Overlaps between different document structures were removed, and as a result the document structure for the client’s preliminary information for shelter services was discontinued entirely. The change history of the document structures has been documented in the Sosmeta service. Previously, some statistical data were recorded in the client’s preliminary information for shelter services, but in future the data will be obtained, for example, from the client relationship document or from the initial assessment for shelters for victims of domestic violence. Information system suppliers must implement the new document structures and at the same time ensure that the statistical data can still be submitted even if the data source of the item included in the statistics changes.
Sosmeta service (in Finnish)
When comparing the variables, it should be noted that although the coverage of the statistics is 100 per cent, i.e. all shelters operating in Finland have submitted statistical data to THL, the different question-specific coverages are different. Observations have been made on deficiencies in the 2024 statistics in the section "Special issues concerning the 2024 statistics".
Institutional mandate
Under the Istanbul Convention (53/2015), Finland is obliged to regularly collect statistical data on the occurrence of the forms of violence covered by that convention. In addition, the data collection is based on the Act on the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (668/2008), under which THL’s duties include studying and monitoring the population’s welfare and health as well as studying, monitoring, assessing, developing and guiding social welfare and health care operations (section 2).
In Finland, THL is responsible for the control, assessment, development and national harmonisation of shelter services. The aforementioned tasks require up-to-date and high-quality information on shelter service providers and shelter clients.
THL’s statistical production practices are guided by the instructions, recommendations and regulations of Eurostat and the Official Statistics of Finland as well as the principles of statistical ethics.
Data sharing and publishing
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare publishes the data in advance at the time indicated in the Statistics publication calendar. The data is made public to all users at the same time.
Statistics publication calendar
Advance statistics will be published on the Shelters for Victims of Domestic Violence web page in February of the year following the statistical year, and actual statistics will be published as a statistical report in May of the year following the statistical year.
The statistical report is saved to Julkari and the THL website. Some of the information is also published in the Sotkanet online service.
Sotkanet online service (in Finnish)
The statistical reports are public.
Confidentiality
As an authority, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is tasked with reporting collected data regarding national health and welfare. The data used to draw up THL’s statistics is primarily confidential, and personal data may not be published. The protection of processed data is based on the Act on the National Institute for Health and Welfare (688/2008), the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the Data Protection Act (1050/2018) as well as other regulations guiding the activities of the Institute.
THL’s datasets are secured at all stages of processing. Data and information systems can only be accessed by persons who have a permit to access certain data for clearly defined purposes. Others do not have the ability to view, process, change or delete data. Written instructions have been drawn up for ensuring the data protection of completed statistics. All THL personnel are bound by a confidentiality obligation.
Special issues concerning the 2025 statistics
Statistics on shelters for victims of domestic violence are generated as part of client work at the shelters. Shelters record client data using structured documents. All providers of shelter services for victims of domestic violence must join the Kanta Services and begin saving their client data there no later than 1 September 2026.
The shelters are currently in a transitional phase regarding the Kanta Services, which may also affect the accuracy and integrity of the statistical data.
The structured documents used by shelters for victims of domestic violence were updated in November–December 2024. The items to be included in the statistics were not changed, but the data source for some of the statistical data changed within the structured documents. See the section Coherence and comparability for more details. Updating the document structures requires action by the shelters’ information system suppliers. The information system suppliers must implement the new document structures and at the same time ensure that the statistical data can still be submitted even if the data source of the item included in the statistics changes.
Table 1 in the statistical report presents the coverage of the statistical data in 2025.