Representative of the University of Iceland Hildur Fjóla Antonsdóttir introduced a study carried out in her country which indicated that 27% of victims of sexual abuse were unconscious or asleep at the time. Antonsdóttir said that alcohol and sexual offences are closely connected.
"I'd welcome an increase in the number of charges being brought against people for sexual offences in Estonia, as it would show that you finally believe the women and children who come forward and report them," said Simon Snell, a trainer and consultant on sexual abuse from the United Kingdom. "When the numbers started going up in the UK, we were told that we were living in a terrible country because sexual abuse was on the increase! We told them that it was actually a sign of victims finally coming forward."
Police Major with the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board Priit Pärkna said that people in Estonia often do not want to believe those who claim they have been sexually abused. For example, they think that children make these things up.
Every fifth child in the United Kingdom experiences negligence or abuse. Snell says that around 70% of offenders are men. He adds that female offenders are often more violent and cruel. In Estonia, only a couple of percent of women are sexual offenders.
An overview of the discussions held at the conferenceas well as the video recording is available from Postimees Online (in Estonian).
The Ministry of Social Affairs says that the prevailing attitude in Estonian society is that victims of sexual abuse are to blame for the crimes committed against them. The belief that victims provoke attacks through their behaviour or appearance is wrong and makes an already traumatic experience even worse for the victims whilst reducing the offenders' responsibility for their actions.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Nordic Council of Ministers organised the conference to dispel myths about sexual abuse, raise the awareness of the general public and specialists, identify problems and discuss them. This was the first international conference in Estonia that focussed specifically on sexual abuse.
363 sexual offences were registered in Estonia last year, which was 37 offences or 9% less than in 2012. The majority of the offences registered were committed against minors.
The survey of all Member States carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights highlighted that around 12% of women have experienced some form of sexual abuse or an incident caused by an adult by the age of 15 (21 million women in the European Union).
Presentations from the conference are available on the hompage of the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs.
Conference coverage in the media (in Estonian):
- Postimees Online: Therapist Kait Sinisalu: sexual abuse in marriage needs more attention
- Naine24 Postimees: Therapist: victims of sexual abuse should not be asked questions beginning with 'why'
- Uudised.err.ee: Ministry: the number of people who report sexual offences should be bigger
- Vikerraadio: The attitude towards sexual abuse in Estonia must change
- Kanal 2 Reporter: Why don't people want to believe victims of harrassers and perverts?
- TV3 Seitsmesed uudised: Experts: the number of sexual offences in Estonia should increase