Victim Support Finland was established in 1994, so this year Victim Support Finland celebrates its 30th anniversary. As the theme of the anniversary, Victim Support Finland emphasises the importance of volunteers in supporting crime victims.
Victim Support Finland provides advice and support to victims of crime or attempted crime, their families, and witnesses. We help the crime victims to act in accordance with their rights and we support them in coping with the criminal experience.
Victim Support Finland’s activities involve more than 500 volunteers across Finland.
“The qualitative and professionally managed voluntary activity is one of the pillars of Victim Support Finland. Becoming a crime victim is almost always a surprising and difficult experience. The support and advice offered by the volunteers at Victim Support Finland can be invaluable to the crime victims”, says Leena-Kaisa Åberg, Executive Director of Victim Support Finland.
The basic task is still to help victims
The activities of Victim Support Finland were launched in 1994 with the assistance of the Poliisi-TV and the Ministry of the Interior. Initially, the service was provided in Helsinki, Tampere and Oulu, and Victim Support Finland has since expanded into a national network of 31 service points.
The first minutes of the establishment of Victim Support Finland are already available from the previous year. In September 1993, a discussion event of various actors convened by the violence section of the Council for Gender Equality was held on the organisation of assistance to crime victims in Finland. The model was copied from Europe. The sister organisation in Sweden, Brottsofferjouren, had offered to support the launching of the victim support services in Finland.
The current implementers of Victim Support Finland have been involved from the beginning. These organisations are the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters, the Church Council, the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, MIELI Mental Health Finland, the Finnish Red Cross and the Finnish Settlement Federation.
Although changes have taken place in the surrounding society and crime has changed its form as a result of the digitalisation, Victim Support Finland’s core task has remained the same for 30 years.
“In addition to the personal support and counselling, Victim Support Finland influences societal attitudes and aims to strengthen the position of victims by means of influencing. We act as a spokesman for the crime victims and as an interpreter of their needs. Victim Support Finland’s services are intended equally for all crime victims”, says Åberg.
The main funding providers of Victim Support Finland are the Ministry of Justice and the Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations STEA.