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Today, the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) published its first baseline evaluation report on Finland.

The report contains an overall analysis of the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention. It highlights positive initiatives in preventing and combating all forms of violence against women and domestic violence at national level and provide suggestions and proposals to improve the situation of women facing such violence.

GREVIO recognises the many Finnish initiatives, past and present, taken to address violence against women and its clear framing as a human rights violation. Public spending on services is on the increase, and efforts are underway to reform the Criminal Code in the area of sex offences. Despite these steps, GREVIO has identified a number of areas where improvement is warranted. These include the need to ensure specialist women’s support services with a gendered approach and in adequate geographic distribution, the more systematic and mandatory training of relevant professionals, including law enforcement officers and the need to address the high rates of domestic violence and rape cases that drop out of the criminal justice system (attrition).

The publication of this evaluation report marks further progress in GREVIO's monitoring procedure and demonstrates its commitment to the elimination of all forms of violence against women.

Comments of the Finnish Government