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If you have been sexually assaulted or abused
Follow these steps:
- Don’t wash yourself and don’t change clothes
- Contact the police
- Go to a doctor (even if there are no visible injuries)
- Don’t stay alone, seek help and support
It may be some time since your experience of sexual assault. However, the experience does not go away by itself. It keeps coming back, in spite of determined efforts to forget it. It may enter your dreams, disturb your peace of mind, or may affect your relationships with other people. However, help is available and it should be sought.
Call Tukinainen
If you prefer, you may remain anonymous. Your contact will not be reported further. As far as reporting the offence to the police and further measures are concerned, you make your own decision after having learned about the alternatives. The services provided by Tukinainen don’t cost you anything.
NEW REGULATIONS ON SEXUAL CRIME ENTER INTO FORCE ON 1.1.2023
The new regulations on sexual crime will concern crimes committed from 1.1.2023 onward.
A sexual crime is an act that violates the sexual integrity of another person and is committed either against the victim’s will or under circumstances where consent cannot be given.
From now on, the definition of rape will be based on a lack of consent. A paragraph lists situations that can never be consensual. The definition of sexual intercourse is broadened. Henceforth, touching another person’s genitalia or anus with one’s own genitalia or mouth will be considered sexual intercourse in a legal sense.
Newly defined crimes include sexual encroachment, unauthorised dissemination of a sexual image, sexual encroachment on a child, rape of a child, and dissemination of a sexual image depicting a child.
The definition of sexual harassment is broadened. The definitional elements of sexual abuse and sexual abuse of a child have also been revised.
You may call our legal helpline for more information about the new regulations: 0800 97895, Mon–Thu 11–16.
CLIENT MEETINGS WITH A LAWYER
You have the opportunity to book an individual appointment with a lawyer at Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen. There you will receive personalised advice and guidance concerning sexual crime. You may remain anonymous, and you are allowed to bring a support person or, for example, a family member if you wish. After the discussion, you are free to choose how you want to proceed in the matter.
To book an appointment with a lawyer, please call our legal helpline: 0800-97895 Mon-Thu 11–16.
INVESTIGATION OF THE CRIME
You may report a sexual crime either to the police department in the area where the crime has been committed or to the police department in the area where you live. The police authority shall conduct a preliminary investigation when, on the basis of a report made to it or otherwise, there is reason to suspect that an offence has been committed (Criminal Investigation Act Chapter 3 Section 3 (22.7.2011/805)). You have the right to a free trial counsel regardless of your income (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Section 1a (14.6.2013/436)). This is an opportunity worth using. In addition, you may be accompanied by a support person for mental support (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Sections 3, 3a (31.3.2006/243,19.12.2014/1178). When the crime has been reported, the injured party is interviewed. This questioning may be audio or video-recorded if the statement given is intended to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings and the person to be questioned cannot be heard in person during the trial. Examples of situations where this may apply include cases where the injured person is between the ages of 15 and 17 and is in need of special protection, or when the injured person is a victim of sexual crime (Criminal Investigation Act Chapter 9 Sections 3, 4 (22.7.2011/805)). The legal helpline hosted by Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen, which can be reached by calling 0800-97895 Mon–Thu 11–16, can provide you with advice on how to report the crime and on matters concerning the investigation.
THE TRIAL
The human and fundamental rights of a victim of sexual crime include the right to a fair trial. There have been efforts to strengthen the position of the injured party in court through legislation and practical arrangements.
A victim of sexual crime is obliged to speak the truth during the legal process. This means giving a full account of what has happened and answer all questions asked. This obligation also applies to the injured party’s legal representative and attorney.
A trustworthy and credible account given by the injured party generally constitutes the most important part of the evidence considered. In order to guarantee a fair trial, it is important to create a secure position for the injured party during questioning. This is possible, but it is necessary to provide practical arrangements as well as psychological and legal support, in many cases already before the trial begins. Without these efforts, the shame, guilt and fears associated with sexual violence and abuse may become stronger, with dire consequences for the injured party.
If necessary, a screen may be placed in the courtroom to prevent eye contact between the injured party and the defendant. It is also possible to arrange separate waiting rooms.
See also Silver, R., Heinjoki, H. 2012. Kohti inhimillistä oikeudenkäyntiä. In Hyväksikäytetyt. Selviytyjät kertovat. Kuusikallio V. and K. (eds). Helsinki: Minerva.
For more information, please visit www.senjanetti.fi/en
THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL COUNSEL AND SUPPORT PERSON
The Criminal Procedure Act (11.7.1997/689) includes sections on assisting victims of crime. A victim of sexual crime has the right to get a state-funded trial counsel for the course of the preliminary investigation. The trial counsel may be contacted at an early stage, already before reporting the crime or being interviewed by the police. The assistance of the trial counsel is often needed already during the police interview that follows after the crime has been reported.
The injured party has the right to get a free trial counsel if the public prosecutor brings charges in the case and the victim has claims (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Section 1a). Claims are usually understood as demands for compensation, which constitute an important part of the legal protection of victims of sexual crime during the trial.
The Criminal Procedure Act also includes sections on the right of victims of sexual crime to be accompanied by a free support person during the legal process.
A victim of sexual crime always has the right to get a support person if the victim is heard in person during the trial (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Section 3 (31.3.2006/243)). This means that a support person may be appointed to assist a victim of, for example, rape, if the victim is heard as a witness in a case where the public prosecutor has brought charges, even if the victim has not presented any claims.
A support person may be appointed by the court for crime victims in need of special support (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Sections 3, 3a (31.3.2006/243, 19.12.2014/1178) and 9 (6.2.1998/107)).
The right to a trial counsel and support person also applies to victims of human trafficking and other serious crimes.
For more information, please visit www.senjanetti.fi/en
THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY
The investigation of sexual crimes usually reveals sensitive information about the injured party’s private life. The right to privacy is guaranteed by the Constitution of Finland as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.
In court cases involving sexual crime, the trial documents often contain highly sensitive information about the personal life of the victim. Protecting the privacy of the injured party is important throughout the legal process and afterwards.
The Act on the Publicity of Court Proceedings in General Courts (30.3.2007/370) regulates the publicity of court proceedings and trial documents. Generally, trials and trial documents are public, but several exceptions exist when the cases involve sexual offences:
To protect the integrity of the injured party, a trial concerning a sexual offence may be held behind closed doors without external parties present, if so requested by the injured party (Chapter 4 Section 15).
The trial documents or certain information, such as the identity of the injured party, may also be ordered to be kept secret for a period of, for example, 60 years (Chapter 2 Sections 6, 9, 11).
COMPENSATION
As a victim of sexual crime, you have the right to demand compensation from the perpetrator (Tort Liability Act 31.5.1974/412). If you have, during the police interview, requested that the perpetrator receive a penalty, your demands for compensation are subsequently presented during the trial. The claims are often presented to the court in writing prior to the trial. Your trial counsel can help you formulate your written claims. Compensation to the victim for the harm done and the costs incurred as a consequence of the sexual crime may also be paid by the State Treasury after the crime has been reported or the court has reached a verdict in the matter (Act on Compensation for Crime Damage Chapter 1 Sections 2, 3 and Chapter 2 Sections 4, 5, 6, 18 (29.12.2005/1204)). Compensation can be paid to the victim already before it has been established that the perpetrator lacks the funds needed. For advice on demands for compensation, please call the free legal helpline of Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen, 0800-97895 Mon–Thu 11–16.
Frequently asked questions
If you have been subjected to a sexual offence, violence in a close relationship or another serious crime against your life, health or freedom, you have the right to a free trial counsel already while reporting the crime. If you have already contacted the police and at that point decide that you would like to have a trial counsel, the interview may be postponed until a counsel has been summoned.
The trial counsel may be a legal aid attorney from a public legal aid office, an attorney working in the private sector, or another person who has received permission to perform this task.
When you are interviewed by the police, the trial counsel can help you bring up facts that are of legal significance, consider your demands for compensation, and formulate your final statement at the end of the preliminary investigation.
Before the trial, the trial counsel can tell you about how the trial will proceed and inform the court about any wishes you may have concerning practical arrangements to ensure that you will not have to encounter the perpetrator during the trial.
During the trial, the trial counsel ensures that all facts that are important from your perspective are presented.
You are entitled to a free trial counsel during the trial if the prosecutor – after you have been subjected to a sexual offence, violence in a close relationship or another serious crime against your life, health or freedom – brings your case to court and you have demands concerning the perpetrator.
Your demands may include a penalty for and compensation from the perpetrator. The police will ask you whether you have such demands. If the case concerns a complainant offence, the matter will not be investigated further unless you demand a penalty for the perpetrator. However, if you as the injured party demand a penalty for the perpetrator and other criteria for prosecution are fulfilled, the prosecutor will bring the complainant offence to court.
In addition to a trial counsel, you also have the right to a free support person as mental support both during the initial police interview and the trial. With the support person, you can discuss confidentially your emotions concerning what has happened. However, the support person is unable to provide legal advice. The support person may be a friend, provided that he or she will not be heard as a witness in the case, or a support person from, for example, Victim Support Finland.
In the Criminal Code, a close relationship is considered to exist if the victim is the perpetrator’s spouse, former spouse, sibling or relative in the direct ascending or descending line, or a person who lives or has lived in the same household with the perpetrator or otherwise is or has been close to the perpetrator due to another comparable personal relationship (Criminal Code Chapter 21 Section 16).
A victim of petty assault is not entitled to a free trial counsel but has the right to a support person (Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 2 Sections 1a, 3, 10).
Translations in English: Käännöstoimisto Henrik Lampikoski