Number of sexual abuses goes up in H1

A total of 826 incidents of rape were recorded from January to June with year, which is 160 cases (24 per cent) higher compared to the first six months of 2020, according to Statistics Finland.

The recorded number of sexual abuses of a child was 976, which is 15.8 per cent more than in the year before.

The act on aggravated rape of a child entered into force on 15 April 2019. In January to June 2021, a total of 42 cases of aggravated rape of a child were reported. A total of 34 cases were reported in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the statistics, aggravated rape of a child is included in the figures on cases of sexual abuse of a child. In addition, 638 other sexual offences were reported. Of them, 326 were cases of sexual harassment, which is 128 cases (64.6 per cent) more than in 2020.

According to the preliminary data, a total of 226,200 offences against the Criminal Code were recorded by the police, customs and border guard during January to June 2021, which is 10,700 cases (4.5 per cent) fewer than in the corresponding period in 2020.

A total of 100,400 offences against property were recorded, which is nine per cent fewer than in the year before. A total of 15,400 assault offences were recorded, which was nearly one per cent down on the year before.

A majority of the reported offences and infractions are recorded by the police. During January to June 2021, a total of 231,400 offences were recorded by the police, which is 36.4 per cent down from the corresponding period in 2020.

In January to June 2021, a total of 2,900 offences and infractions were recorded by the customs and 1,000 by the border guard. Compared with 2020, the offences recorded by the customs decreased by 20.1 per cent and those recorded by the border guard declined by 45.3 per cent.

The number of offences against the Criminal Code recorded by the customs was 2,200 and by the border guard 700.

The recorded number of offences against life was 42, which is two cases fewer than in 2020. Attempted homicides numbered 181, which is four cases fewer than in the year before.

In January to June 2021, a total of 100,400 offences against property were recorded, which is 9,900 cases (9 per cent) fewer than in the previous year.

A total of 17,200 frauds were recorded, which is 2.9 per cent more than in the year before. The number of frauds appears to be growing after a few years of decline. The recorded number of aggravated frauds was 1,000.

During the first two quarters of 2021, means of payment frauds numbered 2,500, which is 900 cases (26.4 per cent) fewer than in the previous year. The number of aggravated means of payment frauds was 106.

The number of robberies recorded was 808, which is eight per cent fewer than in January to June last year. Of robberies, 200 were aggravated.

A total of 56,400 theft offences (theft, aggravated theft, petty theft) were reported, which is 6,600 cases (10.4 per cent) fewer than in January to June 2020. The number of aggravated thefts recorded was slightly under 1,000, which is down by 17 per cent from the year before.