Finnish deputy chief of police of Helsinki, Ilkka Koskimäki, is the latest representative of the police service whose statements have left people scratching their heads. He’s quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph: “This phenomenon [sexual harassment] is new in Finnish sexual crime history. We have never before had this kind of sexual harassment happening at New Year’s Eve.”
Really? Finnish women have never before been harassed sexually by Finnish men?
If Koskimäki is in the dark about the long and ugly history of sexual harassment of women in Finland, he should go out and interview some of the victims. And there are many of them.
Sexual harassment became illegal in 2014 but it doesn’t mean, like Koskimäki claims, that it is a “new” phenomenon even if the law is. What he said is misleading and serves to label all asylum seekers in a negative manner in Finland.
Koskimäki isn’t the only police service representative that has left people awed. Earilier this month we read about East Uusimaa Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen’s advice that Finns should leave rapidly if a foreigner wants to make contact with them.
That’s not all. There’s been some statements by National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and Justice Minister Jari Lindström who are in favor of street patrol gangs while Interior Minister Petteri Orpo has said that they are not necessary because they fuel insecurity.
Read full story here.
The recent statement by Koskimäki shows that the Finnish police service has a lot to learn about policing and serving a culturally diverse society.
A question arises: Why would Koskimäki make such a careless claim to the media? Is it because he’s ignorant or do his statements expose ethnocentrism, even racism?
What they reveal, in my opinion, is unprofessionalism and the fact that some police are totally in the dark about migrants.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We, therefore, prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.
“Koskimäki isn’t the only police service representative that has left people awed. Earilier this month we read about East Uusimaa Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen’s advice that Finns should leave rapidly if a foreigner wants to make contact with them.”
You still keep repeating this lie. Tuominen said you should leave if you are getting harashed! I pointed this out to you earlier yet you still keep repeating yourself. Why? Is it in your agenda to incite people against police and finns?
“Finnish deputy chief of police of Helsinki, Ilkka Koskimäki, is the latest representative of the police service whose statements have left people scratching their heads. He’s quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph: “This phenomenon [sexual harassment] is new in Finnish sexual crime history. We have never before had this kind of sexual harassment happening at New Year’s Eve.”
Really? Finnish women have never before been harassed sexually by Finnish men?”
Once again you intentionally want to misunderstand what he says. He talks about organized groups ganging up on women. So no, we have not had that in here.
You keep telling half-truths just to make police look bad. You claim to be concerned about polarization but you don’t seem get that you are part of the problem with your lies.