The service is intended to especially foreign seasonal workers who suspect that they have been exploited at work. The helpline advises for example on legal working conditions such as working hours and salaries, housing and hygiene conditions, as well as available legal remedies. If the employee gives their consent to do so, the matter may be referred to the authorities for further investigation. The initiative and funding for the service comes from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.
The service answers questions in Russian, English, Finnish and Swedish on the phone and using messaging apps. Help is also available in other languages with the help of professional translators. The service is open from 17th June until 10th September Monday-Friday at 14.00-18.00. June-September is the time when large groups of seasonal workers especially from Ukraine come to Finland to work in the agriculture, e.g. berry picking. For more information, see our webpage.
Victim Support Finland continues to support victims of the large scale date breach against a psychotherapy center
Last October Psychotherapy Centre Vastaamo and its clients became a victim of a major data breach in which sensitive customer information was disseminated online. Patient records of over 30 000 patients of the centre were hacked. Many of the victims received blackmail letters asking for money in order not to release sensitive patient information. So far some 22 000 victims have filed a report to the police of this crime.
RIKU cooperates with the National Bureau of Investigation in order to support more victims in filing the crime report. Later this year RIKU will participate in supporting victims when the police starts to interview them. A large part of the interviews will be made online. RIKU has gathered a huge information package for victims in this case. This can be found on RIKU’s website in Finnish and Swedish. Most parts of it are translated also into English.
More clients in Victim Support Finland
The number of clients in Victim Support Finland (RIKU) continues to grow. In January-May 2021 the total number of clients in different services was 14 400. Last year the number was 10 700 during the same period of time. This adds up to a growth of over 30 %. Last year the total number of clients was 22 600 so RIKU is expecting a clear rise in this year’s numbers. The fastest growing service is the 116 006 helpline. In its services RIKU has seen a clear growth in cyber crime cases. RIKU made a press release concerning this rise and you can find both the Finnish version and the Swedish version of the press release on our website riku.fi.
