The number of hate crimes reported to police in Finland has reached a record high, according to the Police University College.
The suspected cases mainly dealt with verbal insults, threats and harassment, it said.
The number of reported hate crimes has steadily risen each year since around 2020, according to the institution's data.
Last year, police recorded a total of 1,808 suspected hate crimes, reflecting a 13 percent increase over 2023.
After verbal insults, assaults were most commonly reported, according to the Police University College.
It said the motives behind the suspected crimes were most often racist in nature. Nearly 70 percent of the reports filed were motivated by the victims' ethnic or national background.
The press release further added that there is no specific hate crime provision written into Finnish law.
It said the figures are based on data about reported crimes, "which is used to analyze the suspicion of hate motive recorded in the report".
Improved identification of hate crimes
"The Finnish Criminal Code does not include the criminal categories of hate crime or hate speech, but hate motive is a basis for increasing the punishment. Therefore, any act that is defined by legislation as a crime can be a hate crime. The decisive factor is the motive of the act, which is ultimately determined by a court," the release said.
"In 2024, the number of suspected hate crimes increased in all motive groups in the report, except for crimes related to religion or belief. The most common motive was the victim's ethnic or national background," it continued.
Other factors included the victims' disability, sexual orientation or religious background, according to Jenita Rauta, a researcher at the Police University College.
"There were again a third more suspected hate crimes directed towards disability than in the previous year. Reports related to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression are also increasing. Hate crime is therefore a diverse phenomenon that affects several different population groups," Rauta said in the release.
"The trend is concerning. In my opinion, the increase in hate crimes against people with disabilities reflects, for example, a broader societal polarization in which those in vulnerable positions are targeted," Rauta said.
"On the other hand, hate crimes are also being identified better than earlier and reported more actively to the authorities, which increases the visibility of the phenomenon," she said.
The majority of the suspected crimes dealt with perpetrators belonging to the majority of the population being prejudiced or hostile towards a member of a minority group.
The most targeted group were Syrians living in Finland, according to the report.
The report also noted that the number of religious-based hate crime incidents had slightly declined in 2024, compared to the previous year. In these cases, it said that the most common victims were Muslims and the suspected crimes typically took place online.
