1. Prevalence data and victim surveys
2. Costs of domestic violence
3. Age distribution of domestic violence
4. Number of deaths
1. Prevalence data and victim surveys
- According to Statistics Finland’s data, there were 11,800 victims of domestic violence and intimate partnership violence offences reported to the authorities in 2022. Of the victims, 9,100 were adults. The number of underage victims was 2,700.
- Fifty-two per cent of underage victims were girls and 74 per cent of adult victims were women.
- Close on 16 per cent of victims of domestic violence and intimate partner violence reported to the authorities were of foreign background.
- Among suspects of domestic violence and intimate partner violence, 76 per cent were men. If the victim is a minor, 65 per cent of suspects are men.
- The statistics include only cases known to the authorities, by no means all cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence are reported to the authorities.
Sources:
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Statistics on offences and coercive measures [online publication]. Reference period: 2022. ISSN=2342-9178. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [Referenced: 16.11.2023]. Access method: https://www.stat.fi/en/publication/cl8lc4yhfm4e60dukctz741r7
Eurostat, Gender-based violence database: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/gender-based-violence/database
2. Costs of domestic violence
A recent study has found that domestic violence incurs significant costs to health care, social welfare and legal services. If was also found, however, that health care costs started to decrease once the violence was identified.
The study examined the health care costs incurred by domestic violence experienced by women and men between 2015 and 2020 and the usage and costs of health care, social welfare and legal services during the last year. The study also took into account the costs of domestic violence experienced by children or experienced by adults during their childhood.
Compared to the rest of the population, the additional cost of health care services for those who had experienced domestic violence totalled EUR 1,024 per year. These additional costs were found to accumulate every year over the whole six-year monitoring period.
When compared to those who had not experienced such violence, domestic violence led to an annual increase of 60–90% in social welfare costs and a 70% increase in legal costs (including police costs). Violence experienced in childhood, meanwhile, corresponded to 50% higher costs on social welfare and legal services in adulthood.
In comparisons with those who had not experienced domestic violence, the direct additional health care costs incurred annually as a result of physical intimate partner violence experienced by women amounted to EUR 150 million.
The research data is based on the registers of basic and specialised medical care, the police, Kela, and shelters for victims of domestic violence as well as the Gender Based Violence population survey. The costs for those who had experienced domestic violence were compared with those of reference group members who had not experienced domestic violence. The study focused only on the direct costs of violence for social, health and legal services.
Sources:
Domestic violence-related use of services and the resulting costs in health, social and legal services. Siltala, Heli; Hisasue, Tomomi; Hietamäki, Johanna; Saari, Juhani; Laajasalo, Taina; October, Martta; Laitinen, Hanna-Leena; Raitanen, Jani (2023-01-20)
http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-317-3 
3. Age distribution of domestic violence
The statistics below show that in the year 2022 there were 6732 adult female victims and 2333 adult male victims. The number of female victims increased by 8.1% from the previous year 2021 and the number of male victims by 10.7%. (OSF 2023.)
- Of the minor victims under the age of 18, there were 1,316 boys and 1,413 girls.
- The number of girl victims increased by 4.2% and the number of boy victims by 5.9% from 2021.
- Violence against minor children by parents was reported 7.1% more than the previous year with app. 2,400 cases.
- For boys, the perpetrator was the victim’s parent in 90 percent of the cases. For girls, the share of parents was 86%. (ODF 2023.)
| Age distribution | Female victims | Male victims |
| 0–6 | 395 | 503 |
| 7–12 | 572 | 578 |
| 13–17 | 446 | 235 |
| 18–20 | 344 | 120 |
| 21–29 | 1,483 | 467 |
| 30–39 | 2,061 | 608 |
| 40–49 | 1,374 | 491 |
| 50–59 | 915 | 381 |
| 60–69 | 350 | 197 |
| 70 – | 205 | 69 |
The chart below shows the age distribution of all the female victims:
The chart below shows the age distribution of all the male victims:
The domestic violence and intimate partner violence data 2022 were formed based on register data of offences recorded by the police. If the injured party is also the victim of an offence, a separate entry is made of this into the police information system. At the moment, it is obligatory to record victim data only in attempted homicides, assaults and other crimes against life or health, sexual offences, human trafficking offences and in some offences of Chapter 25 of the Criminal Code.
The data are mainly recorded manually in the police information system and there are many recorders, so user-based random or systematic input errors are possible despite common recording instructions.
The offence variables included following crimes: rape, aggravated rape, sexual abuse of a child, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child, other sexual crimes, sexual assault, agg. sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, non-consensual dissemination of a sexual image, pandering, agg. pandering, abuse of a victim of prostitution, sexual assault of a child, sexual abuse of a child, offering compensation to a young person for a sexual act, solicitation of a child for sexual purposes, dissemination of a sexually offensive image of a child, possession of a sexually offensive image of a child, following a sexually offensive performance of a child, attempted manslaughter, murder, killing, assault, agg. assault, petty assault, robbery, extortion, agg. extortion, deprivation of personal liberty, menace, persecution, negligent homicide, trafficking in human beings, hostage taking, coercion, terrorist offences.
Sources:
Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Statistics on offences and coercive measures [online publication]. Reference period: 2022. ISSN=2342-9178. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [Referenced: 16.11.2023]. Access method: https://tilastokeskus.fi/en/publication/cl8lc4yhfm4e60dukctz741r7
4. Number of deaths
In Finland, intimate partner homicides against women decreased in the early 2000s, but the decline has not continued in the 2010s.
In 2021, 28 homicides against intimate partners came to the attention of the authorities. The number of victims was the same as in 2020. 16 of the victims were women and 12 were men, and in total, victims of intimate partner deaths made up 38 percent of all homicides of the victims.
A significant proportion of intimate partner homicides are premeditated and are often linked to break-up situations. Although some perpetrators of homicide have a history of violence against the victim, in majority of cases there are no previous police-recorded incidents. Prior restraining orders and visits to shelters are also rare, as are visits to health services due to direct effects of violence. Reducing intimate partner homicides therefore requires improvements in the early identification of violence, but also to risk assessment and effective interventions.
Sources:
Inmate partner homicides against women Preceding events, risk factors and prevention. Suonpää, Karoliina; Koskela, Tarja; Sutela, Mika; Törölä, Miisa; Aaltonen, Mikko Pysyvä
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-133-9
Lähisuhdeväkivalta 2021: Suurin osa lähisuhdeväkivallan uhreista on edelleen naisia tai tyttöjä, seksuaaliväkivallan uhreilla usein myös aiempia väkivaltakokemuksia
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2023062965892
Rikollisuustilanne 2019: rikollisuuskehitys tilastojen ja tutkimusten valossa
https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/cba601e8-dee0-471b-b6de-59cf01556a2f