The wave of fascism that is sweeping the European Union is unnerving to watch; as the far-right pushes to create systems that would create Europe’s own Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, to the rise of the far right in Finland itself. Finland also currently stands at the highest position for violence against women. According to the Gender Equality Index, ‘In Finland, 57 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator since the age of 15. This rate is the highest in EU-27, at 26 percentage points higher than the EU-27 average (31 %).’
The far right have used their position in society, having been given the freedom of speech to spread their rhetoric and expand. The national broadcaster YLE as well as numerous news sources have normalized their ideologies by providing them the medium to spread to a wide audience the false threat of a rising number of immigrants entering the population, and the purported violence that immigrants cause to the society at large. In giving the far right this space, the media is responsible for normalizing far right ideas in the mind of the public and made the xenophobic ideas of needing to ‘save’ women ever more commonplace. In an article by Viola Drombowski, this idea is broken down thusly: ‘An examination of the recurrent invocations of women’s rights across Europe’s far-right reveals a shared narrative that gives insight into what is behind them.. an overarching juxtaposition between a ‘civilised’, enlightened and egalitarian Europe and a racialised, inherently backward, and misogynistic Islam or broader Global South is created. The far-right portrays them as ‘carriers’ of patriarchal violence and values, threatening the long-won rights and liberties of women in the countries that welcome them. As a symbol of this looming demise, the figure of the ‘veiled muslim woman’ is frequently misused: unlike the ‘native women’ whose liberties must be protected, the ‘migrant women’ have yet to be liberated.’
Despite their claims however, the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) reports that: ‘..the vast majority of domestic and intimate partner violence cases involve Finnish citizens, reflecting underlying issues within the domestic population rather than external factors.’ (THL) And so, not only does the ‘dangers’ immigrants pose towards women in Finnish society prove false, but puts women that are victims at even greater risk as they are afraid to report violence, in this environment of misogyny, or even try access support to escape violent situations. The Gender Equality Index also reports that the numbers of women having experienced physical or sexual violence and not have told anyone is higher in Finland than in the rest of EU.
Now in Finland we stand at the crossroads of this epidemic of violence as well as femicide against women, and a national crisis of unemployment levels reaching record highs in Finland compounded by the budget cuts that have seemingly targeted the most at risk members of Finnish society, namely women and children. According to a report by THL, the current government’s budget cuts may push up to 27,000 children below the poverty threshold.
This makes the work by non-governmental organizations such as that of Nicehearts, Naisten Linja, and Monika-naiset that work with women, young people and girls that are most at risk even more important. With the cuts the basic social assistance in Finland, the aid and support that NGOs provide the marginalized has become even more crucial. Women and children need even more support to access services that are even more limited, and to have social support and places to shelter in for cases of violence. In fact, the need for shelters has increased according to THL – ‘the number of clients in shelters for victims of domestic violence continued to increase last year, like it has in the two previous years. In 2024, shelters had more than 5,800 clients, which is eight per cent more than in the previous year. The number of days spent in shelters increased by three per cent from the previous year and was approximately 105,000.’
The work of NGOs to bridge the gap between increasing poverty, those at risk of violence and those that are most at risk in society is undeniable. Not only do non-governmental organisations like Nicehearts help women with various backgrounds, it empowers women by training women as volunteers and community leaders through the Neighborhood Mother’s programme. Tyttöjen Tila or Girl’s Space under the Nicehearts umbrella also works with youth of all backgrounds, aged 10-28 years. Our work is not just confined to a physical location but works in cooperation with schools in all the neighborhoods of Vantaa and Lappeenranta, with many social service providers including Child protective services clients, mental healthcare providers and minors from reception centers. Despite this, the current Minister of Social Affairs and Health Wille Rydman thinks it fit to reduce state subsidies to the tune of an additional €50 million for social and health NGOs (CSOs), compounding previous austerity measures to total €190 million in cuts over the current legislative term. The pushback to this decision is now running through Finnish Parliament, with Prime Minister Orpo himself disagreeing with this hardline that Rydman has taken, stating that a single minister cannot advance this position without government approval. But the very fact that a minister would brazenly push through such a hardline stance, shows that now more than ever fascisms rise, the normalization of hate speech, and the precarious position of women, minors and those most at risk in our society must be protected.
How can you, and I protect our civil liberties against the rising tide of fascism and the normalization of misogyny and violence against women? Educating oneself about how the far right uses and whitewashes the protection of women and anti-trans rhetoric to discredit and erode the rights of all women is a good first step. Secondly, it would be important for all women to bravely speak up against the return of patriarchal values which harms men as well as women in equal measure, and to support the critical work of grassroots level organisations like Nicehearts, that works to empower women and youth to empower their own communities. You can support our work by donating to fund our work, following us on social media, and by coming out to our various activities. The far right will only succeed if it divides us, because then we lose sight of our power to effect change. In the words of Maya Angelou, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Help us secure the future of our work with girls, women, and families by donating an amount of your choice to Nicehearts via MobilePay to the number 15012.
Sources:
Gender Equality Index ‘Violence indicators in Finland: Disclosure’
YLE gives space to fascism
Viola Drombowski ‘Far right feminists?’
THL ‘Intimate partner violence and violence against women’
THL ‘Budget cuts push more children into poverty threshhold’
https://yle.fi/a/74-20179145 (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.)
https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/155392151/more-clients-in-shelters-for-victims-of-domestic-violence-last-year-than-ever-before (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) Helsinki Times ‘President Orpo steps in to block Minister Rydman’ https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/28964-orpo-intervenes-in-ngo-funding-dispute-as-soste-faces-major-job-cuts.html