One in five men in Finland estimates that a woman is responsible if she becomes a victim of violence because of her appearance or behavior, according to a survey conducted for the Finnish women’s organization Nyktis, which called the results “alarming”.

In that survey, which involved more than 1,000 men aged 18 to 79, the question asked was whether a woman “could deserve to be targeted for a violent act because of the way she dresses, her appearance or her behavior”. Across all age groups, one in five men said they agreed with this suggestion.

“Our research shows that while not all men accept violence against women, there are too many in number who tolerate it, which is worrying,” commented Sila Kakola, president of Nytkis and the Finnish Anti-Violence Observatory, in a press release.

“We need to change a lot in these attitudes and men themselves have a key role to play,” she added.

The results record contradictions: while 21% of men think women may deserve to be victims of violence, 90% think violence against women is reprehensible. Most further appreciate that men need to do more to end such violence.

“Shame on Finnish society”

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reacted by calling violence against women “a disgrace to Finnish society.”

“Society as a whole must work to change these unnatural and dangerous attitudes and eliminate violence against women,” she said in an Instagram post, calling on “men to take responsibility.”

In Finland, half of women aged 16 to 25 have been victims of physical violence, threats of violence or sexual violence, and one in five have been subjected to serious violence or rape, according to another survey also published today by the Finnish Statistical Office.

“The experience of violence is very broad, whether in a relationship or outside of it,” commented Marjut Pietilainen, a researcher at the agency, and “young women (…) in particular face a lot of violence in different areas.”