This week we learned about how widespread women in the rescue department are victims of sexual harassment and discrimination, according to Yle. We also learned about the ministry of justice’s plans to tackle discrimination and hate-speech awareness with a 52-point program with the help of training increased support for organizations racism and hate crime.
Writes Yle News: “In the future all Finnish police departments will undergo training on non-discriminatory police work while municipal councillors will take courses on hate speech,” reports Helsingin Sanomat.
As parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Christian Democrats and Movement Now (Liike nyt), and especially the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have encouraged and given a platform to racism and bigotry, in the same way, more have spoken out against discrimination.
The fact that Finland is belatedly waking up to its social ills like racism shows one crucial factor missing from the picture: action and consequences for racist behavior.
Finland is a Nordic welfare state with social justice and equality a cornerstone of our values. These wonderful laws are supposed to ensure that Finland is a safe country to live in for everyone, irrespective of the person’s background. The challenge, however, is that too little is done to enforce anti-discrimination laws.
But what better time would there be than to begin now and see how we could make Finland a more ethnically just country for everyone.
If one has had to suffer the debate between the opposition and government-ruling parties on Thursdays, one may be surprised by the bigotry and hatred many parties like the PS spew.
How could we say it in a single tweet?
Ville Tavio, the head of the PS parliamentary group, is a sad example of the anti-democratic path that the party wants to guide Finland.
