Treat with tweezers whenever percentage figures are used to depict sexual assault cases by migrants.
A government-commissioned study published Thursday concluded that migrants are over-represented in suspected sexual assault crimes, perpetuating a toxic narrative. Such generalizations give ammunition to Islamophobes like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to maintain and reinforce racist stereotypes.
To look at how the Finnish media reported the study, we’d have to look at what the media and study did not mention.
For one, the study cites suspected sexual assault cases but also mentions convictions. The media took the bait and cited with gusto suspected cases and concluded that “migrants are overrepresented” in sexual assault crime, accounting for 37.5% of all cases. That compares to 57.4% of sexual assaults by Finns.
In Finland, as in other Western countries, a person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.
The total number of sexual assault cases against adults in 2020 was 1,241, accounting for 57.4% (712 white Finns) and 37.5% (529 migrants) of such cases, respectively. Contrarily sexual crimes against children were 79.3% (789) and 206 (20%).
What is surprising in the study is how a minority of suspected sexual crimes ever get convictions. It was only 12.9% of all cases (1,450) for adults and for sexual crimes against children 13.7% (1,709) in 2019.
One of the big lies about sexual assault in Finland is that asylum seekers, mostly Muslims, are the overrepresented group. The study, however, shows that the majority of suspected sexual assault crimes are committed by Northern Europeans. In 2020, suspected cases for sexual crimes against adults and children stood at 58.9% and 80.6%, respectively. The corresponding figures for “Western Asians” (the Middle East and Egypt) were 20.3% and 5.6%.
The study found that sexual assaults by second-generation Finns were minimal.
One explanation the researchers of the study state is that there is a connection between sexual crime and war. If this were the case, and why wouldn’t it be a factor, does it explain who war forced a spike in sexual assaults by Finnish men who returned from the front during the Winter (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44)?
Considering that most of the suspected sexual crimes in Finland are committed by Northern Europeans, why are asylum seekers (code for Muslim) portrayed as perpetrators of sexual crime in Finland? This narrative is so strong in the political jargon that it has helped Islamophobic parties like the PS to lure votes.
In addition to stoking fear toward Muslims and other non-EU citizens, racializing crime and perpetuating racist stereotypes worsens ethnic tensions and retards these people’s adaption to Finland.
White Finnish privilege #81
No sensible person will commit sexual or any other form of crime against a single member of our society. However, we should forcibly condemn the manipulation of statistics to maintain racist stereotypes of different groups.
Sexual assault statistics are a perfect example of this abuse.
They should be used to address the causes of such a terrible crime.
See also:
- Defining white Finnish privilege #1: I have it and you don’t
- Defining white Finnish privilege #2: Third culture children versus “pupil with immigrant background”
- Defining white Finnish privilege #3 No history, no doctrine, no heroes and no martyrs
- Defining white Finnish privilege #4 Holding the short end of the stick
- Defining white Finnish privilege #5 It’s ok to be a racist
- Defining white Finnish privilege #6 Not having a voice and the media
- Defining white Finnish privilege #7 A definitive guide
- Defining white Finnish privilege #8 Underrated and less intelligent
- Defining white Finnish privilege #9 Mohammad Ali’s insight
- Defining white Finnish privilege #10 I can victimize and make up any story I like about migrants because I’m white
- Defining white Finnish privilege #11: Case Teuvo Hakkarainen
- Defining white Finnish privilege #12: Case Tom Packalén
- Defining white Finnish privilege #13: Case Matti Putkonen
- Defining white Finnish privilege #14: Losing sight of the real issue
- Defining white Finnish privilege #15: Case Halla-ago on the PS
- Defining white Finnish privilege #16: Rosa Emilia Clay and my history versus yours
- Defining white Finnish privilege #17: The Perussuomalaiset and our civil rights
- Defining white Finnish privilege #18: Labeling others according to your prejudice
- Defining white Finnish privilege #19: My rape statistics about your group
- Defining white Finnish privilege #20: Labeling Others to strengthen “us” and “them.”
- Defining white Finnish privilege #21: Who can be a Finn?
- Defining white Finnish privilege #22: From racist, fascist to a politician without memory
- Defining white Finnish privilege #23: Greater police powers to monitor migrants and minorities
- Defining white Finnish privilege #24: Becoming a heartless accomplice in wars and people’s suffering
- Defining white Finnish privilege #25: This land is my land, this isn’t your land
- Defining white Finnish privilege #26: Are you an ethnic Finn?
- Defining white Finnish privilege #27: White versus Other media
- Defining white Finnish privilege #28: Are you an ethnic Finn (Part 2)?
- Defining white Finnish privilege #29: Your family is worth less than mine
- White Finnish privilege #30: Whitewashing and racializing the news
- White Finnish privilege #31: The Soldiers of Odin and the Finnish media
- White Finnish privilege #32: The white Finnish police and “them”
- White Finnish privilege #33: Appropriating our narrative to maintain the status quo, amass more power and privilege
- White Finnish privilege #34: Building a political career on privilege and nativist nationalism
- White Finnish privilege #35: Case Sampo Terho and the ministry of (dis)culture
- White Finnish privilege #36: Hate speech and censorship
- White Finnish privilege #37: The master of near-everything
- Defining white Finnish privilege #38: Cultural appropriation and racism are quaint discussion topics between white Finns
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #39: The Hollywood ending of racism that will never happen in Finland
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #40: To whitewash or to disenfranchise
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #41: An Islamophobic politician and gender equality
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #42: Labeling and shaming
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #44: Defending Nazis’ rights to march is ok as long we agree on the common enemy
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #45: Do blondes have more fun?
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #46: Teuvo Hakkarainen = white racism and sexism
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #47: President Sauli Niinistö’s “culture inside four walls”
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #48: Allow me to smear your religion so mine can shine
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #49: When white privilege backfires
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #50: Caving in to white narratives
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #51: The police are the defenders of white power and privilege
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #52: Having no privilege is dangerous
- White Finnish privilege #53: Plan Finland’s unplanned pregnancy campaign #ProtectBlackGirlsToo #Whatofme
- White Finnish privilege #54: Disguising your racism, bigotry, and prejudices effectively
- White Finnish privilege #55: It’s that time of the year – Christmas!
- White Finnish privilege #56: How Islamophobic is Finland?
- White Finnish privilege #57: Finland’s “hostile environment” against migrants
- White Finnish privilege #58: How the police, media and politicians fuel Finland’s hostile environment against Muslims and migrants
- White Finnish privilege #59: In this country, you are guilty before proven innocent
- White Finnish privilege #60: Oulu, OULU! Awaken and sniff the racist coffee.
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #61: #NoRacismInUniversity #WeAreNotSkinColour
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #62: On free speech and scared white men
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #63: Silence and acting dumb are the swords of institutional racism
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #64: The cancer of institutional racism in Finland
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #65: Racism exists because our society profits from it
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #66: Abdirahim Husu Hussein and dealing with racist passengers in a racist environment
- Exposing Finnish white privilege #67: Pirkka-Pekka Petelius’ apology exposes deep-rooted white Finnish supremacy
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #68: The party that injects Finland’s Islamophobia with steroids and other hate-enhancing drugs
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #69: At the dentist – do you speak Finnish?
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #70: At the dentist’s and where are you from?
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #71: Hate speech is an example of white supremacist privilege
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #72: False police reporting is an example of violence and open hostility
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #73: Stoking and exploiting white suspicion
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #74: The anti-Semitic beast inside Jussi Halla-aho
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #75: Obsession with race, ethnicity, and us versus them
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #76: Two news stories that expose entitlement
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #77: The PS are Finnish white supremacists
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #78: the spread and acceptance of white nationalism
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #79: Spreading lies at our economic peril
- Exposing white Finnish privilege #80: Violence against you counts but mine doesn’t
