Global Progress Towards Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children
A global problem requires truly global solutions to address the sexual exploitation of children.
Indicators
Age of Consent
Partial
Age of consent is 16 -years. This means that sexual activity with a person under the age of 16 is a punishable act. There are exceptions if the perpetrator is the victim's parent or in a similar relationship with the child and lives in the same household, age of consent is 18 years. A consensual sexual relationship of two youths who are at the same level of development is not illegal.
Criminal Code of Finland Chapter 20, 2021
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
Partial
Finnish law provides for active and passive extraterritorial jurisdiction over offenses committed outside Finland. Universal jurisdiction is provided over crimes contained in international agreements binding on Finland (including human trafficking). Double criminality is generally required for proceeding with extraterritorial jurisdiction, but it is lifted for some offences listed in Article 11 of the Criminal Code, including SEC related offences.
Extradition of SEC related offences is conditioned on the fulfillment of certain minimum requirements. Those include the severity of the offence or length of sentence and dual criminality. SEC related offences would be considered extraditable because they fulfill the principle of severity of the punishment as they are punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least one year.
SEC offences are referred to as extraditable offences under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) framework and double criminality is not required for proceeding with extraditions of SEC related offences to Nordic States and within the EU if the act is punishable by a maximum period of at least three years of imprisonment in the requesting State.
Criminal Code, Extradition Act, Act on Extradition between Finland and other Nordic countries (1383/2007), Act on Extradition on the Basis of an Offence between Finland and Other Member States of the European Union (1286/2003), 1889 (status as of 2023), 1970 (status as of 2023), 2007, 2003
CSAM Definition
No
The national legislation does not provide a definition of CSAM which is in line with international standards as it refers to CSAM as being pictures or a visual recordings “offensive to sexual morality” without precise definition .
Criminal Code, 2021
Background Check Required
Not Yet Assessed
National Commitments
Not Yet Assessed
Child Advocacy Centers
Yes
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is funding the Barnahus project which aims at developing interprofessional cooperation (police, prosecutor, psych units, child welfare, somatic and psychiatric nursing, school, early childhood education, counselling center) and information sharing between authorities, child-friendly encounters and spaces for children heard in a legal context, and coordination of support and treatment for children.
At the end of 2021, there were 5 children and youth forensic psychology and Psychiatry units (Barnahus centers) in Finland. The Barnahus project started in June 2019 and will continue until the end of 2025.
FINNISH INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE, Barnahus Project, 2023
SEC Police Unit
Not Yet Assessed
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Not Yet Assessed
Public SEC Case Data
Not Yet Assessed
Age of Consent Law is Appropriate
The age of sexual consent for both males and females is 18 and a close in age exemption (up to 3 years) is provided for consensual sexual relationships between adolescents.
The age of sexual consent is the legally defined age at which a person is considered mature enough to agree to sexual activity. The age of sexual consent varies across jurisdictions around the world and there is no international legal instrument establishing it, however various forms of advocacy have encouraged States to establish a minimum age under which engaging in sexual contact is considered a criminal offence. This is intended to prevent sexual contact with children and to prevent argument that the child consented as a defence.
Often national provisions related to the age of sexual consent include an exception, known as a close-in-age exemption, making consensual sexual activities between young people lawful if the partners are of similar ages and the age difference is not higher than a certain number of years.
To ensure that cases of child sexual exploitation do not go unpunished, ECPAT advocates for the age of sexual consent to be set at 18 for both males and females with a close-in-age exemption of 2-3 years provided in order to ensure young people are not penalised for consensual sexual acts with peers. The age from which the exemption applies should be established by States but may begin for young people somewhere between 12 and 16 years of age.
Yes The national legislation explicitly indicates that the age of sexual consent unequivocally is 18 for both males and females, with a close-in-age exemption for sexual acts between peers (of up to 3 years) is provided by law.