Crisis help for victims of sexual violence at the
Tukinainen Rape Crisis Centre, Finland
Heli Heinjoki
Crisis- and traumatherapist,
Development Manager for Crisis Work
Rape Crisis Centre Tukinainen, Helsinki, Finland
8.5.2014 Tallinn
Tukinainen Rape Crisis Centre
• Founded in Helsinki in 1993; originally a project
of the Feminist Association Unioni
• Tukinainen ry 2004
• Local branch in Jyväskylä 2006
• Funded by the Finnish Slot Machine Association
• Serves clients everywhere in Finland
• Support association for victims of sexual crime
• Complements the services of the social and
health care system
• Professional organization
Our work
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Free and confidential service for clients
◦ Therapeutic crisis work and legal assistance
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Training, consultation and coordination for
professionals from different fields
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Impact on society as a whole
Work among victims
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Crisis telephone helpline (6 hours 5 days per week)
Legal advice (four days a week, 4 h per day)
www.nettitukinainen.fi
Crisis meetings
Peer support groups
Meetings with lawyers
Lawyer accompanying victims during the legal
process
People
• Four crisis workers (two full-time, two part-time)
• Development Manager for Crisis Work
• Eight crisis workers on the helpline during
weekends
• One group leader
• Development Manager for Legal Work
• Two lawyers on the legal advice helpline
• Financial and Administration Manager,
Communications Manager
Client criteria
• Priority on victims who are not receiving other
help simultaneously
• Priority on clients who have experienced acute
violence
• Rape victims
• Victims of harassment
• People over 16 years of age
• If a client is already receiving care elsewhere, we
offer consultation to the helping party!
From victim to client
• First contact usually by phone or over the
Internet
• Advice on the phone or online AND/OR by
appointment with a crisis worker
• Within two weeks of the first contact
• Crisis worker selected for each case by the
crisis team
Client process in crisis work
Goals
1. Crisis help - sufficient work on the effects and
symptoms of the experience of violence; searching for
ways to cope with the experience
2. Legal advice
- How to report a crime
- Making known the victim’s right to a free trial and
various kinds of support during the legal process
3. Whenever necessary, the client should be advised to
utilize other forms of help available (e.g. psychotherapy,
therapy groups).
Our crisis work process
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2-3 evaluation meetings
About 15 individual meetings
Telephone meetings (if appropriate and convenient)
Work based on a care agreement
If needed, statements for the trial
Our workers as witnesses in court
Direction to other services (psychiatric polyclinic,
psychotherapy) and consultation for the helping
organizations
Legal advice
• Every client is given basic information about
all relevant rights that victims have during the
legal process.
• The client should meet a lawyer at least once
during the crisis work process (either alone or
together with a crisis worker).
• Our lawyer also has the opportunity to assist
the client during the legal process.
Groups at Tukinainen
• Open group
- Every other week, 1.5 hours, structured,
stabilizing, centered on symptom recognition,
two supervisors
• Closed groups
- Selection based on interviews, thematic focus
(cognitive processing therapy (CPT), art therapy,
bodily movements, psychodrama, photo therapy)
• Weekend groups
- stabilizing or psychodrama
Important themes in crisis work
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Shame and guilt
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Sense of inferiority, lack of self-esteem
Derealization (”Has this really happened to me?”)
Difficulties in human relations
Reduced ability to experience intimacy
Sexual problems
Difficulties at work and while studying
Dissociative disorders – not only as a symptom, but
something that affects one’s whole personality
(complex dissociative disorder)
Important themes in crisis work
• There are no legitimate motivations for sexual violence,
and therefore the victim is always innocent!
• It is possible to recover from an experience of sexual
violence.
• Recovering from a traumatic experience always takes time
and energy.
• It is important to treat oneself well during the recovery
process.
• Everyone should have the courage to ask for help as well as
the right to receive it!
• The crisis worker’s support is of key importance, and
therefore truly professional workers should be available for
the victims.
Statistics
• About 2000 calls each year alltogether
- 300 new cases on the crisis helpline during
2013
- 300 new cases on the legal helpline
• 140 individual clients in 2013in crisis services
• About 120 participants in groups
• About 1.500 visitors on website every month
• Nettitukinainen.fi 400 messages 2013
THANK YOU!
Heli Heinjoki
Special Crisis and Trauma Psychotherapist
Development Manager for Crisis Work
Tukinainen Rape Crisis Centre
[email protected]