Development of services offered at the support centres for victims of sexual violence

Finland has committed to the prevention and elimination of gender based violence against women through the three P’s – Prevention, Protection and Prosecution– as set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and the European Council Istanbul Convention. Finland will renew its commitment to address violence against women by pursuing to further develop and enhance the range of services offered at the support centres for victims of sexual violence (SERI) so that their availability across Finland will be improved.

The SERI Support Center is a support unit for those over the age of 16, regardless of their gender. The Help Center is a low-threshold unit which the victim can access either alone, with relatives or with authorities. The reporting of a crime is not a condition, although encouraged.

The SERI support centres for victims of sexual violence offer forensic examinations, trauma support, psychological counselling and therapy. It is important that the victim can get the help they need in one place or that they can be immediately referred to the appropriate specialized services. The sooner a victim of sexual assault is treated in the acute phase, the sooner the recovery begins.

Violence against women causes both human suffering and high economic costs to societies. In EU violence against women costs 226 billion euros each year as lost in economic output, provision of services, including health, legal, social and specialised; and the personal (physical and emotional) impact on the victim. As part of the Action plan for the Istanbul Convention will evaluate what are costs caused by intimate partner violence in Finland

Mode of engagement:

• Programmatic action
  Finland will develop further and enhance the range of services offered at support centres for victims of sexual violence so that their availability across Finland will be improved