Abstract
The ideology behind the Finnish criminal policy is described as humane and rational. In line with this policy, efforts are made to reduce the use of the criminal justice system to solve societal problems. One of the internationally celebrated landmarks of this policy is the success in keeping the imprisonment rate at a low level. 
 In this article we argue, that while this policy has been sensitive towards the needs of the offenders, it has failed to recognize the needs of victims, especially the vulnerabilities related to the victimisation of violence and sexual violence. International critical analyses on the appraisal of the victim rights have raised fears among the criminal policy planners in Finland and prevented analytical discussion. Furthermore, the reluctance to involve the victim perspective in the criminal political discussions is based on mistaken ideas of what the victims really want. In the article, we will consider how to strengthen the position of the victim without making the criminal policy more punitive in general.
Highlights
Crime victims have long been invisible in Finnish criminal policy
Rationality of the criminal law has found expression in the new classical school of criminal law, according to which the sanctions should be in proportion to the severity of the crime and criminal sanctions should only be used when necessary to prevent crime, in opposition to symbolic criminalisation
Criminal justice should be used for the management of social problems as sparingly as possible.[1]
Summary
Crime victims have long been invisible in Finnish criminal policy. Since the 1970s, criminal policy has focused on reducing repression and the number of prison inmates. There has been progress towards these goals Such progress, in particular the reduction in the number of prisoners, has drawn international attention and even admiration for the Finish criminal policy’s humanity and rationality. In part VI we claim that the victim issue has been hijacked as a tool for those who seek a more punitive criminal policy without The article claims that we should be ready to an open and sensible discussion of criminal policy in which the victim’s perspective is taken seriously
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