Costs of intimate partner violence to be estimated in Finland

Annika Saarikko, the Minister responsible for gender equality affairs, will participate in the project 100 Acts for Gender Equality organised by the National Council of Women of Finland and the Council for Gender Equality. Saarikko’s act for gender equality will focus on estimating the costs of intimate partner violence in Finland.

Violence against women remains a serious human rights problem in Finland, too.

- Human suffering is, of course, the worst consequence of violence, and it is impossible to determine its price.  In addition, violence against women and intimate partner violence cause economic costs and it is important to know what kind of sums we are talking about, says Minister Saarikko.

These costs were last estimated in Finland in the beginning of the 2000s. In that connection it was calculated that the immediate costs of violence against women rise to about EUR 48 million per year in Finland. The costs incur in healthcare services, social sector and judicial sector. A few years later, the same researches studied the corresponding costs in the region of Hämeenlinna. This example, one city, showed immediate costs that rose to EUR 1.2 million per year. On this basis it has been estimated that the costs of intimate partner violence in Finland could be about EUR 90 million each year.

The aim of the Minister’s act for gender equality is to update the estimate of the costs of violence. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has allocated a total of EUR 100,000 for the research project.  A call for project proposals will be opened in the beginning of 2018.

- It is important to re-estimate the costs caused by intimate partner violence, with regard to, for example, the regional government and  health and social services reforms. This will help to better assess how preventive services and services helping victims should be developed and how much funding those services require, says Minister Saarikko.

The estimate of the costs of intimate partner violence also helps to plan the implementation of  the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Finland ratified the Convention in 2015.

Inquiries:

Riikka Pirkkalainen, Special Adviser to Minister Saarikko +358 40 5395090
Tanja Auvinen, Director, tel. +358 2951 63715