By Enrique Tessieri
The Aamulehti story that was published Wednesday, claiming incorrectly that 34% of all rapes are committed by foreigners, has Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen now demanding in Iltalehti tougher rape sentences. Nowhere in the Iltalehti story does Räsänen mention numbers. The only thing we can read in the story is that one third of all rapes are committed by foreigners.
The far-right anti-immigration wing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is attempting to get political mileage from the story. Helena Eronen, the assistant to PS MP James Hirvisaari who created quite a stir when she suggested armbands for foreigners, wrote in her Uusi Suomi blog about the matter.
Nowhere in her blog entry does she mention volumes.
Earlier today Migrant Tales got in touch with Hannu Niemi at the Justice Ministry, who said that as a rule of thumb, around 50% of all rapes by foreigners in Finland are committed by tourists. The rest are committed by permanent residents.
Let’s look at the rape statistics. Over the period from 2006 to 2009 24% — not 34% as claimed by Aamulehti — of rape sentences were given to foreigners. Technically this means that 12% (around 62 out of a total of 262 total cases) of all sentenced rapes in Finland were committed by immigrants who live here.
Aamulehti calculated only one type of rape case in its story. If we use all three types, then they average to 24%.
What is even more revealing are the 2010 and 2011 figures, which show suspected rape cases totalling 141 (foreigners accounted for 27.5% of the total) and 109 (26%), respectively. If the majority of these cases are dropped and around half of them concern immigrants, then we are speaking of a really small number that is not big enough to start victimizing whole groups.
An honest question: Is this a story? Is it such a big story that Interior Minister Räsänen must come out publicly and add more fuel to the fire of racism in this country or stir the storm in the teacup further?
Räsänen does throw a bone to the immigrant community by asking people not to label all foreigners as a result of the statistics: “But we should not underestimate the problem; the majority of foreigners are well-behaved.”
This story by Aamulehti is a a good example of how immigrants are victimized in Finland.
When I read stories like these it not only makes me feel ashamed of my Finnish background but of some of my colleagues who are sloppy and eager for attention.
Hi MT.
“But we should not underestimate the problem; the majority of foreigners are well-behaved.”
Is this the best the Minister of internal Affairs can come up with?? Unbelievable??
Maybe she has to get herself an education in criminology. She……..as a woman should know far more better the situation where women in Finland are in. She……by all means should have a better understanding of the nature of “dark-numbers” in rape. Unbelievable.
A country that is proud of its freedom for women can’t come up with a better argumentation about perpetration of rape as her statement. Unbelievable.
Christian Democrats?? Does this party really understand the issue?? Unbelievable. Christian?? What does it still mean??
You forgot one thing though, when a foreigner is granted Finnish nationality, he stops being foreigner. Every rape he does from thereafter will not show in the statistics as a rape done by foreigner. Now I wonder what these statistics would look like if you only look at ethnic finns vs rest. This is just speculation, but I don’t think it would look too good for your argument Enrique.
Hi Make, what do you mean it wouldn’t look too good for my argument? Bring it on and we’ll discuss it.
Welcome to Migrant Tales.
Oh boy, i just came from reading Räsänen statement and all i can say is im shocked, she said that immigrants rape for a cultural reason, how? what culture encourages to rape, i don’t know any, do you? she’s painting a picture about us that being immigrant automatically makes us a rapist. How the hell are we able to cohabit with Finns, how are we going to get along with Finns when we all know that majority Finns ideas about us immigrants are shaped by the media. This is really depressing times, now im a rapist even though ive never raped a woman or never did it occure in my mind.
D4R, I think Räsänen’s statement shows more of her ignorance on the topic like anything else. It’s a bit like her views on homosexuality.
But do me a favor: Tell me which culture condones and encourages rape?
Maahanmuuttajat raiskaavat mitä se nyt oikeasti kertoo. Se on vähän sama asia kuin sanoisi eurooppalaiset raiskaavat. Ihmiset sattuvat vain tekemään pahoja asioita. Jos sanon jonkun maahanmuuttajan tehneen jotakin, kerron tekiästä niin vähän, että kuuntelia voi päättää ihan itse kuka se maahanmuuttaja on. Olen lievästi kyllästynyt maahanmuuttaja termin ylikäyttöön. Sanasta on melkein tullu synonyymi ei-eurooppalaiselle. Meidän pitäisi alkaa hillitä tai tiedoittaa jokaisen artikkelin loppuun mikä on maahanmuuttajan määritelmä niin muistamme keistä me todella puhumme.
Maahanmuuttajat ovat epämääräinen joukko ihmisiä joilla ei ole mitään yhteistä toistensa kanssa. Heillä ei myöskään ole minkäänlaista yhteistä kokemusta tai ongelmaa, joka kokoaisi heidät yhteen. He ovat yhtä yhtenäisiä kuin Eurooppalaiset siis ei hirveesti mitään yhteistä.
Hyym Sinäänsä on pakko myöntää, että tämä on ongelma, mutta en nyt tiedä miten hirveesti kulttuuri tähän liittyy. Mikään kulttuuri ei ylistä raiskausta vaan näkee sen suurimpana häpeänä. Nainen joka on liian heikko puolustamaan itseään raiskauselta on häpeä perheelle ja suvulle. Kaikista patriakaalisimmissa kulttuureissa naisen on parempi kuolla kuin elää.
Se että voisimme selittää arabien raiskaus luvut kulttuurilla on mielen heikkoutta. Raiskaus lakia voisi kyllä tiukentaa. Me emme voi silti säätää pykäliä jotka kohdistuisivat vain arabeihin tai millään tavalla kohdistuvat tiettyä etnisyystä vastaan.
Tilannetta on tarkailtava. MigrantTales voisi alkaa hiilostaa myös muitakin puolueita. Nyt ollaan hiilostettu perussuomalaisia aika laila, vaikka he eivät ole tehneet hirveesti mitään kongreettista viellä muuta kuin pitänyt meteliä.
Hi Make.
The registered crime is not the only data source that is involved here. Far more important for understanding this type of crime is: the unreported (dark numbers) and the one of the reasons for that is that the act has happened but the victim doenot come forward. Shame, family relationship, friends etc.
Unreported is not viable for crime. Wrong!! The point is that it must be reported. Even then it can be dropped from prosecution because of the difficulty of eveidence and legal proof.
Nevertheless the act of unvoluntary sex has happened.
It seems that Finnish women are far more willing to report sexual harrassment -later defined as rape- that Finnish women seem to report when Finnish men are involved. Such behavior distorts the statistics.
Nevertheless even when making a little joke of the Aamulehti article: 34% of the CONVICTED cases were committed by foreigners (one heap) therefore 66% are Finn related. Now the joke comes: Looking at the number of foreigners in the country (relative issue) foreigners are FAR MORE CRIMINAL than Finns.
This without any reference to the overall amount of rape cases (reported and unreported)
Simplicity is a joy for ever.
Hi Make.
What doe you mean by “ethnic Finns”. Do you include here also the naturalized foreigners??
Even when you don’t you should take in mind my previous criticism about the reporting behavior of Finn-related rapes.
From a relationship point of view data might look very different -my estimation from other data sources- than those of the police statistics (registered crime) meaning that Finn-related rape is far more higher than the police statistics.
Foreigner relationship-based rape will be rather low taken in account the underlying informal rules within foreigner communities. Threats of “harsh counter acts” might be a reason for keeping in-group rape data very low.
Both Finns and foreigners -although based on different reasons- will tend to minimize reporting to the police.
Looking at the absolute numbers it can be estimated that the number of unreported rapes committed by Finns are far more higher than the registered numbers indicate. Unreported rapes commited by foreigners will be low because of the “harshness” of internal settlement.
Reviewing my argumentation It is my understanding that the committed rape registration ( court cases where no legal appeals are possible anymore) do not represent the reality of this type of crime. Any conclusion -like in Aamulehti- is without any scientific foundations and only present subjective and distorted argumentation.
Enrique:
“The Aamulehti story that was published Wednesday claiming incorrectly that 34% of all rapes are committed by foreigners”
Why are you lying again? Why do you say “claiming incorrectly”? 34 % was correct figure, so why do you try to claim otherwise?
“The registered crime is not the only data source that is involved here. Far more important for understanding this type of crime is: the unreported (dark numbers) and the one of the reasons for that is that the act has happened but the victim doenot come forward. Shame, family relationship, friends etc.”
So are you saying that the emancipated and independent Finnish women in a very liberal culture are not coming forward so often than the rest of the women here?
If not, those “dark” numbers don’t have any weight in this discussion about the ratios in the known cases. If yes, that’s an absurd claim with no logic behind it.
I can think some cultures which are more concerned about shame. For example in some cultures there’s a concept even as ugly as shame killing. Although many prefer to call it honor killing even though there’s certainly not any honor in it. The difference from a normal killing is that the surrounding society accepts it or even demands it. If somebody kills for example his wife because of his twisted perception of shame and honor it’s not an honor killing by definition. The deciding factor is what the surrounding society thinks about the deed. If they condemn it, it’s no shame killing. So the concept is about the society and not the individual’s motives for killing. This example shows us that there really are differences in cultures regarding violence.
Some cultures for example don’t consider a man forcing his wife to sex a rape but an obligation for a wife to please his husband when he wants to. And so on. You could probably argue that there’s some correlation in women’s position in general in a society and their position considering these kinds of crimes. It’s quite obvious why.
Sasu
This is an excellent point. The law in Finland was finally strengthened last year. It was only, what, ten years ago that rape by the husband was made illegal. Who is to say that Finnish men are different? Maybe they are different because of the stronger penalties, not because they are now suddenly less inclined to rape.
If I’m correct in understanding, all categories of rape are now prosecuted, regardless of the complainant’s intentions? It used to be that ‘lesser rape’, where there was no ‘violence’ was not automatically prosecuted, and so was a complainant offence. This gave a horrible message, that the state was not prepared to acknowledge that a crime had been committed, and that this responsibility was passed on to the victim, who may suffer worse repurcussions because prosecution was ‘her decision’.
Or was it that it was just the ‘drunkeness’ clause that was changed, so that when a women is drunk or otherwise in a state where she can be considered not to have given consent?
Please correct me if I’ve got these two mixed up in the most recent changes to the rape laws.
I can see that you are ashamed of your Finnish background: that penetrates every article you write, although you voluntarily moved to Finland. However, are you ashamed of your American background, where nonwhite rape statistics are sky-high? I suppose not, for you do not concern yourself with reality much. You have an agenda to push, so push you do.
A pity no one you know personally has been raped, so that you could get a better idea about this issue. Nonetheless, even a male can be a victim, so don’t be careless walking at night. God knows, an honor killing would be terrible if your family were ashamed of you!!!!
Elven archer: I can think some cultures which are more concerned about shame. For example in some cultures there’s a concept even as ugly as shame killing.
Can you tell me what culture practices shame killing?
Elven archer: The deciding factor is what the surrounding society thinks about the deed. If they condemn it, it’s no shame killing. So the concept is about the society and not the individual’s motives for killing. This example shows us that there really are differences in cultures regarding violence.
How do you know that “that” society approves honer killing? have you studied them, do you know them? if you’re talking about islam then i sugest you start learning Islam before you start spitting nonsense. Islam forbids all killngs, it’s individual level who does that, and lets be honest archer , FINNS DO MORE KILLINGS IN FINLAND THAN MUSLIMS. So we might as well say that Finnish society encourages to kill Family and friends ofcourse after Lapinkulta.
Mary Mekko: I can see that you are ashamed of your Finnish background: that penetrates every article you write, although you voluntarily moved to Finland. However, are you ashamed of your American background, where nonwhite rape statistics are sky-high? I suppose not, for you do not concern yourself with reality much. You have an agenda to push, so push you do.
So, what do you think is the cause that Non Whites rape more than actual Whites? could you please tell us your thoughts on this one why and the cause?
Rape is a horrible crime. In fact it is one of the worst things that could happen to a woman.
What I find disgusting in this debate is that the PS and their Homma forum hores are trying to use rape as a political weapon.
They do this while their campaign manager is a convicted violent rapist himself.
This shows me that they don’t really care about rape.
Jussi Allah-oho was on tv yesterday sitting next to PS talking head and convicted violent rapist Matti Putkonen complaining about how the media treats their racist, xenophobic, islamophobic and Nazi-inspired “jokes” and statements.
Perhaps the PS should look at their own criminals before pointing the finger at others.
–They do this while their campaign manager is a convicted violent rapist himself. This shows me that they don’t really care about rape.
Yes, “työmies” Putkonen is a good example of these questionable standards. It’s the “but…” in the PS political rhetoric. We are against rape but… We are against racism but… We are for gender equality but…
When you listen to PS politicians, look for that magic word, but…, the statement that follows is their message.
Helena Eronen, PS MP James Hirvisaari’s alter ego, used but… on Ajankohtanen kakkonen. We are against racial profiling but…
MT
So someone finally brought her up to speed on the publicly stated policy towards racial profiling. 😀
Hi Farang. Whoooaahh. Aamulehti holds the truth. Probably you are from Mars!! Green man, you should go in journalism. Making people laugh about your stories. At least that a good thing here.
Hi Mekko. Being raped yourself?? As you seem to know!
Leaving Finland was because of……….??
Your comments are not so welcome anymore. We call people like you DEFECTORS!!
You have nothing to contribute than hate. Hate that comes from the US way of dealing with multiculturalism.
You have no idea about Europe anymore. So stay peacefully with your blond, blue-eyed customers who complain about the situation in Europe. Feeds you!!
Peanuts!! 🙂
Elfie.
Also here. Credentials please for your inventions. Your messages start to become copy-and-paste without any evidence, scientific underpinning.
So. First credentials to prove you understand the topic. Alright.
Or,…. Elfie…should I say …Make?? You pointed out the ifluence of the Internet. You think I don’t know?
Höpsöö!!