Number of rapes rises 9% last year

Although the total number of criminal offences reduced slightly in 2017 compared to that in the previous year, the number of rapes increased significantly last year.

In 2017, the number of sex offences classified as rape was 1,272 or 105 cases (nine per cent) higher than that in 2016, according to a report released by the police on Wednesday.

The suspected sex offenders’ identities were known in 2,418 cases. The native Finns were suspected of about 77 per cent incidents of rape while foreign nationals were suspected in 23 per cent cases.

The number of sexual harassment cases reported to the police, however, decreased by almost 21 per cent from 536 cases in 2016 to 425 cases in 2017.

The Criminal Code of Finland defines punishable sexual harassment as committing a sexual act towards another person by touching that is conducive to violating the right of this person to sexual self-determination.

Meanwhile, the total number of criminal offences reduced in 2017 than the previous year.

The police recorded a total of 790,691 criminal offences in 2017 registering a drop of a few per cent than that in 2016. The number of offences in 2017 punishable under the Criminal Code of Finland marked a year-on-year drop of approximately six per cent. Property crimes and road traffic offences decreased, while the number of narcotics offences increased for the fourth year in a row. Especially worrying for the police was young people’s increasing tolerant attitude towards drug use.

National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen is reasonably happy with the police’s performance last year. “The police did pretty well last year on the whole, considering our limited resources, the changes in our operating environment and the simultaneous increase in our statutory duties,” said Kolehmainen.

He feels that the police’s responsibilities and budget are out of synch. He firmly believes that the police will not be able to attend to all their duties efficiently and in the most expedient manner in the future without additional resources. “Solving this problem requires not only more resources in the long term but also prioritisation of police duties, which calls for decisions from policy-makers,” said Kolehmainen.