Love Hurts - Relationship Violence on the Rise
January 23, 2010 |12:26 | Relationship By : Team X
A third of all sexual violence occurs within relationships, according to the centre. In only 13 percent of cases is the perpetrator unknown to the victim. Victims contacting Tukinainen say they’ve experienced physical, emotional and sexual abuse by a loved one. More than half of those living in an abusive situation say they’ve been threatened by their abuser. Half of such threats are death threats.
Victims Coming Forward Last year, Tukinainen received some 1,700 calls, the majority of which were from women who said they had been raped. In 2009 victims filed 2,223 reports of sexual violence with the police. Sexual violence covers everything from the sexual abuse of children to various forms of rape, including having sex against the will of one partner. Marital rape was criminalised relatively late in Finland, in 1994.
Riitta Silver, who works as a legal counsellor at the centre, say rape victims are often unaware of the free resources available to them, such as legal aid and counselling. Tukinainen advises sexual assault victims and also provides legal aid, which extends from helping victims file criminal charges all the way through court proceedings.
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