Riitta Koivisto - Rikoksentorjuntaneuvosto
Riitta Koivisto - Rikoksentorjuntaneuvosto
Riitta Koivisto - Rikoksentorjuntaneuvosto
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Violence prevention program<br />
Street violence<br />
Generic approach<br />
(all violence)<br />
Workplace violence<br />
Domestic violence<br />
During 2003 and 2004 the Justice Department developed an integrated violence prevention program. The<br />
new program seeks to integrate all current activities of the Justice Department to prevent violent crime, to<br />
prevent the recurrence of violent crime by the same offender, and to expand the activities against violence.<br />
The program pays attention to violence in 3 domains:<br />
• the public domain; this includes street violence, also referred to as ‘senseless violence’. This also<br />
includes the involvement of the department in rating film, tv and other media;<br />
• the semi-public domain; this includes all violence taking place in the workplace, between colleagues, but<br />
also between customers and service providers;<br />
• the private domain; domestic violence. This includes spousal abuse, child abuse, but also forced<br />
marriages, genital mutilation and honour killings.<br />
Of course the Justice department has been active to reduce violent crime for a long time. This includes<br />
policies to against domestic violence, among others.<br />
What is new about this program was the idea that there may be something linking these three domains<br />
together. To investigate this and maybe implement something like a generic anti-violence approach, a fourth,<br />
generic domain was defined. So this includes measures that can be applied to all forms of violence.<br />
An example of this would be to develop and maintain codes of conduct. Such codes can be useful to make<br />
clear which types of behaviour is tolerated in a certain place at a certain time (in the swimming pool, down<br />
town in the evening, at work, etc.). They seem to be reducing aggression.<br />
My instinct tells me something more can be done with bystanders. In all three domains there are bystanders,<br />
witnesses. I think we can learn a lot and do a lot if we focus on these people.<br />
The campaign I am telling you about today is part of the street violence policy.<br />
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