Support for families in difficult situations - yhteiskuntaorientaatio.fi
Child welfare protects children
If a family requires support in a difficult situation, they can request for help from child welfare services. You must also ask for help if someone severely harms the child. Child welfare is obligated to intervene if the parents are unable to care for the child or the child is under threat in some way.
A child welfare notification can be submitted by anyone who is worried for the child
If it seems that a family has severe issues and a child’s wellbeing is endangered, a person outside the family can also submit a child welfare notification. The child welfare notification is submitted to the social services of the wellbeing services county and it can be submitted by phone, in writing or by visiting their office.
Early childhood education and care workers and school staff are obligated to submit a child welfare notification if they suspect that a child needs help or there is a situation which requires intervention. Anyone can submit a child welfare notification to the social welfare authorities. The notification can also be submitted anonymously.
Child welfare notifications are submitted, for instance, if a child uses intoxicants, is self-destructive, continuously neglects school, or there are suspicions that the child is being hit.
If a child welfare notification has been submitted about a family, it is the duty of the social welfare authorities to find out if the child or youth needs protection, help or support. Usually the authorities first discuss the matter with the family. An interpreter can be used in this discussion. The social worker also meets with the child without the parents present.
Based on these discussions, the authorities evaluate whether the family needs support. They compile a child protection plan with the child and the family. This is a document describing where the family needs help and which type of help is required. This help can be guidance, counselling or a support discussion. A family can receive a support person or a support family who can spend time with the children and thus support both the children and the parents. In most cases, child welfare services are in-home services, meaning that the child can continue living at home with their parents.
Substitute care is the last resort for protecting the child
Substitute care means that the child is temporarily removed from their parents or their guardians. If the child is in immediate danger, an emergency placement outside the home may be required. Reasons for substitute care can be the parents’ severe exhaustion, severe challenges with upbringing, a severe long-term illness, or mental health issues in the family, substance abuse or domestic violence.
Substitute care does not necessarily mean taking a child into care (huostaanotto). Taking into care is a last resort if nothing else helps. This means that the responsibility for the care of the child and upbringing is transferred to the authorities. Taking into care is the last resort for the authorities to protect the child.
If the child is removed from their home, the wellbeing services county’s child welfare authorities take care of the child. They are placed to live with a foster family, a children’s home or youth home. Substitute care is always temporary. The authorities regularly evaluate whether the child can return to their family. If the situation in the child’s home resolves quickly, substitute care can be short-term. Sometimes a family’s issues are prolonged. In such a case, substitute care or taking into care can continue until the child is of age and lives on their own.
The objective of child welfare is always that the child could live at home with their parents. Even during substitute care or taking into care, child welfare authorities work with the whole family. The aim is to help the family in such a way that it is safe for the child to return home.
Violence in the family is always a crime
The perpetrator of domestic violence is someone close to the victim
Violence is a crime in Finland. Despite this, there is violence in some families. Domestic violence means violence where the perpetrator and the victim have a close relationship. The victim may be a spouse, a partner, a former partner, a child, a sibling, a relative or someone else who is close. Domestic violence can happen inside a family. It affects all members of the family, not only the direct target of the violence.
Victims of domestic violence are often women and children. Especially severe and repeated violence is typically aimed toward women. According to research, women in Finland experience almost the most violence out of any European countries. Violence toward women is a significant problem in Finland. Men also experience domestic violence. Violence can be physical, mental, financial or sexual.
Physical violence is often easy to recognise as violence. Physical violence can be hitting, pushing or throwing things. Emotional violence is also violence. Emotional violence includes belittling and humiliation, controlling what others do or limiting social relationships.
Violence can also be financial. Financial abuse can mean that one spouse makes all the family’s financial decisions alone and the other has no personal money to use. Pressuring or forcing a spouse into sex is sexual violence. Sex without consent is a crime even when the victim and the perpetrator are married.
Often domestic violence starts with emotional abuse, for instance, controlling behaviour. With time, the violence often becomes more severe and physical violence is involved.
If there is violence in a family, it is important to report this to the police. Unfortunately only a small portion of domestic violence cases are reported to the police. People often think that domestic violence is a private matter. Therefore they stay quiet. Violence is always a punishable act, even if it happens in a family.
More information about where families can get help: Problems in the family (infofinland.fi) (infofinland.fi)
All violence experienced by a child is harmful
Finnish law forbids corporal punishment of children. Children are not to be physically punished by hitting or pulling hair. All violence toward children is a crime.
Corporal punishments and abuse toward a child can cause severe damages and even death. A child can be severely traumatised, harming their mental and social development. If the child is a victim of violence, they may feel a lot of hate and fear and lose trust toward adults. If a child learns a model of violent behaviour from an adult, this can cause issues for the child throughout life.
Sexual acts toward children are crimes
An adult is not allowed to have sex with a child under the age of 16. Finnish law states that this is child rape or child sexual abuse, even if the young person consented to sex. Sexual abuse harms a child’s sexual and mental development. Sexual abuse is always a crime.
If a parent or a sibling sexually abuses a child, this is extremely severe sexual violence and incest. This causes severe trauma and issues to a child’s development.
A child is never guilty for abuse they face – the responsibility is always on the adult. It is especially difficult for a child to tell someone about the abuse if the perpetrator is a member of the family. Other family members have the duty to intervene if they suspect abuse in the family.
Violence experienced by other members of the family also harms the child
Violence or the threat of violence always affects children, even if the violence is not targeted directly at the child. Violence between parents causes both direct and indirect mental consequences for the child. Sense of security can vanish even after just one violent experience and this can leave life-long scars.
Children may fear violence targeted at their mother more than violence directed at themselves. Even if children do not see violence, they can sense the tension in the family.
Violence and fear of violence can cause the child anxiety, depression and sleeping difficulties. The child’s physical and mental health and development can be in danger. Children who have experienced violence often have difficulties with concentration and learning at school.
Honour-based violence is communal
Honour-based violence is violence which usually occurs in the family or in one’s own community. It is connected to defending the honour of the family or community. Maintaining honour means that a person receives respect from others and does not need to be subjected to shame. The family or the community feels that honour is a matter for the whole family. When an individual’s actions break the rules and ways of the community, others try to return honour through violence or threats of violence.
Often honour-based violence is related to situations where the family feels that someone in the family has broken the norms of the community. Such a situation may arise, for instance, if a young person spends time with friends who the family does not consider suitable, or if they dress in a way that the family does not accept.
Honour-based violence is more prevalent in communal cultures or communities where men have a lot more power than women. This also happens in Finland. The victims of this violence are often girls and women as well as those belonging to gender or sexual minorities. Boys and men can also face honour-based violence. They may also be pressured to use violence toward others.
Honour-based violence can be emotional or physical violence. Honour-based violence can include pressuring, forcing to marry, limiting movement, or interfering with clothing, dating or hobbies. Other forms of violence can include threatening to send the person back to their previous home country or other threats, female genital mutilation or preventing marriage.
Finnish law states that honour-based violence is a crime. Sometimes it is difficult for the victim to recognise this violence, especially when it first begins. For example, pressuring may not be recognised as violence at first. You should however seek help when the situation is not yet very dire.
The video below explains what honour-based violence can look like and how it infringes on the victim’s rights.
Video: KotonaSuomessa Honour-based violence (youtube.com) (Finnish, Swedish, English, Chinese, Tigrinya, French, Sorani, Estonian, Thai, Dari, Kurmanji, Somali, Russian, Arabic)
Help in situations of honour-based violence is offered by Loisto settlement in Helsinki through their Sopu work, DIDAR in Tampere’s Setlementti and Auralan Setlementti’s Safe work in Turku.
More information about Sopu: Soputila.fi (Finnish, Swedish, English)
More information about DIDAR: DIDAR.fi (Finnish, English, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Dari, Somali, Thai, Turkish, Russian)
Forced marriage is a form of human trafficking
Forced marriage means a situation where one or both of the spouses have not been able to freely affect the marriage or a relationship similar to marriage, or the choice of spouse. One can be forced into marriage through pressuring, extortion, violence or threat of violence. There may also be threats of exclusion from the family or community.
Especially girls and women are forced into marriage, but a man or a boy can also be forced into marriage. Often one or both of those forced into the marriage are underaged. A minor under the age of 18 cannot officially be married in Finland. A child may, however, be taken to another country to be married or the marriage may be performed with religious traditions without an official marriage.
Forcing into marriage is a crime in Finland. Forced marriage is one form of human trafficking according to Finnish legislation. A child’s guardian who does not try to prevent forced marriage can also be convicted of a crime. If officials find out a marriage is forced, it is annulled.
The assistance system for victims of human trafficking offers support to victims of forced marriage, as well as information on forced marriage and other forms of human trafficking.
More information about human trafficking: Ihmiskauppa.fi (Finnish, Swedish, English, brochure: Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Farsi, Chinese, Kurmanji, Polish, French, Romanian, Somali, Thai, Russian, Vietnamese, Estonian, Spanish, Nepali, Ukrainian, Bengali, Sorani)
You can live in a mother and child home or shelter when you need help
You can always go to a shelter if you are not safe at home
A shelter (turvakoti) is a place where those who have experienced domestic violence or the threat of it receive help and safety. A person can go to a shelter if they cannot go to their own home due to violence, threats or fear. A shelter is home-like and there are workers present around the clock. The staff help in resolving crisis situations. Shelters are meant as temporary living places, but the duration of this depends on personal need. The services of shelters are free of charge.
You can always enter a shelter if you are not safe at home. You do thus not need to endure physical violence at home. Emotional violence, such as controlling behaviour or threatening with violence, can also be a reason to seek safety.
Shelters are for all genders. Shelters can also be entered with children. You can call a shelter whenever – even at night.
More information about shelters: Shelters for victims of domestic violence (thl.fi) (Finnish, Swedish, English)
More information about Online Shelter: Online shelter (nettiturvakoti.fi) (Finnish, in part: Swedish, English)
MONIKA – Multicultural Women’s Association, Finland and its Shelter Mona help women who have moved to Finland who experience violence or the threat of it at home. Unlike other shelters, Shelter Mona is meant only for women and children. Its address is secret. Shelter Mona is located in southern Finland, but you can go there anywhere from Finland.
More information about Shelter Mona: Shelter Mona (monikanaiset.fi) (Finnish, English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, French, Dari, Farsi, Somali, Ukrainian, Estonian)
At a mother and child home, you can practice living with a baby
A mother and child home (ensikoti) is a place where a mother can come with her baby if she has a difficult life situation or if she is completely alone. Mother and child homes are especially meant for pregnant mothers and those with small babies. The other parent or the mother’s partner can also live in the mother and child home. A mother and child home is a safe environment for practicing to care for a baby and life with a child.
The mother and child home requires a referral from the social services. A person first needs to contact their own wellbeing services county’s social services if they require help from a mother and child home.