Fear of crime 

Updated: 19.2.2013 - Next update: 31.3.2014
   
 
 
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Street violence is feared more than violence committed elsewhere

Violence is feared most commonly outside the home in the evening. In the 2012 population survey, just over a third (35%) of respondents said that they had been afraid at least once during the year of becoming a victim of violence outside the home in the evening. Violence at work was feared by around one sixth (17%) of respondents involved in working life. A significantly smaller proportion, around four per cent, had been afraid of becoming a victim of violence by a family member.

Women were more often afraid than men of becoming a victim of violence. More than 40 per cent of women stated that they had been afraid at least once during the year of becoming a victim of violence outside the home in the evening, while the corresponding figure for men was just over one fifth. Women also feared violence at the workplace significantly more than men. Overall, one fifth of women had been afraid at least once during the year of becoming a victim of violence at work, while the corresponding figure for men was around one tenth. Only a few per cent of men had been afraid of becoming a victim of violence by a family member, while such violence was feared by six per cent of women.

Fear of violence decreases with age and is lowest among 55–74 year-olds. Half of all people under 35 years of age had been afraid at least once during the year of violence committed outside the home in the evening. Older age groups, however, contain more people who do not spend time at all outside of the home in the evening. Fear of family violence was almost the same in all age groups, but was lowest, however, in the oldest age group.


Source:
The National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Description of indicator

The indicator describes the proportion of 15–74 year-olds who stated that they had been afraid of becoming a victim of violence outside the home in the evening, at work or by a family member during the past year. The information is based on the National Crime Victimisation Survey, which is conducted both as a traditional mail and as an internet questionnaire.

The National Crime Victimisation Survey is targeted at 15–74 year-olds who have a permanent address in Finland. The survey participants are selected randomly from the Population Register Centre’s population information system. In 2012, a total of 7,479 people answered the survey questionnaire. The survey covers the incidence of becoming a victim of threats, physical violence and property offences, as well as fear of violence and the interpretation of violence. The survey also describes total levels of violence and property offences, including cases not reported to the police and thus excluded from crime statistics. The survey is intended to be repeated annually.

A new form of the National Crime Victimisation Survey was conducted for the first time in 2012. The National Victimisation Surveys conducted in the period 1980–2009 covered the incidence of becoming a victim of various accidents in addition to crimes. The National Crime Victimisation Survey differs in terms of methodology and content from the earlier victimisation surveys, and the results are not directly comparable.