Wed, 27 Jul, 2016 12:28:40 AM FTimes – STT Report, Jul 27 Child sexual harassment. File Photo – Lehtikuva. The number of sexual offences reported to the police in January to June this year has seen a 12 per cent rise from that in the same period in 2015, said the National Police Board.
In the first half of this year, slightly more than 1,600 sexual offences were reported to the police, with the number of reported suspected rapes rising about six per cent.
An identified suspect, who is a foreign citizen, accounted for a little less than 300 cases or slightly more than a quarter of the offences. The suspects in 1,200 cases have been identified.
The reported number of suspected sexual offences by foreigners rose by nearly 93 per cent. “The increase can be explained by both the large number of foreigner suspects and the fact that they are more likely to be reported,” said National Police Board Director Timo Saarinen.
He also pointed out that “The great majority of sexual offences in Finland are committed by people with whom the victims are already familiar. That makes it not so easy to report the crime.”
On the other hand, foreigners too reported an increasing number of sexual offences, marking a 67 per cent rise from that in January to June 2015.
For example, the number of suspected rapes in which the victims were foreigners more than doubled over the past year. There were more than 40 such reports made this year.
“This reflects the fact that some foreigners also commit sexual offences against other foreigners, for example, asylum seekers in the reception centres. One must also remember that the statistics include foreigners who are not asylum seekers,” Saarinen said.
More than 650 of the reported cases are of suspected child sex abuse.
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