Iltasanomat: Coercive control in intimate relationships

Julia Korkman from HEUNI was interviewed about coercive control in intimate relationships, and she said it is hard for the justice system to grasp because it develops gradually and largely “inside the mind”, leaving no physical traces. Concrete evidence is often scarce, though text messages and written threats can help. Victims who have lived under long-term control may also struggle to give a logical, detailed account of events under the stress of a police interview, and Korkman sees the same difficulty in rape and consent cases, where evidence rests on people’s accounts alone. She welcomed the Finnish 2026 legislative initiative to criminalise coercive control, but stressed that even where digital evidence exists, investment in police interviewing is essential: Finland has a skills gap, and officers should be better trained to investigate crimes against persons, where the entire case often relies on testimony and memory and victims may be left with secondary traumatisation from the criminal justice process. She nonetheless firmly believes coercive control can be proven, citing human trafficking investigations she has consulted on, where it was demonstrated through skilled police work: good interviewing combined with other evidence.