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Good practice Imported

Lyömätön Linja — Finland's Voluntary Helpline and Group Programme for Men Who Use Violence

Finland · Helsinki · See the Finland profile · See the Helsinki profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 67% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Finland's first violence-intervention service for men, run by Miessakit ry since 1993. Free voluntary phone, individual and group counselling reached 314 men through 1,408 sessions in 2023; 80% reported violence had ended at six-month follow-up.

314 men
Men served (2023)
1408 sessions
Client sessions delivered (2023)
5 staff
Staff delivering the service (2023)
80 %
Violence reported ended at six-month follow-up
16 %
Violence reported become milder at six-month follow-up
two-thirds
Participants who sought help on their own initiative
Lyömätön Linja — Finland's Voluntary Helpline and Group Programme for Men Who Use Violence

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Miessakit ry
Period
1993–present
Keywords
domestic violence, men's services, mental health, social welfare

Context

Lyömätön Linja began in 1993 in Espoo as Finland's first dedicated violence-intervention service for men who use violence against a partner, child or family member, and is now delivered nationally by Miessakit ry with STEA funding. The service is entirely voluntary — no court mandate — offering up to five free individual sessions, optional couple sessions, and rolling weekly group work from Helsinki and Kuopio.

Results

In 2023, five staff delivered 1,408 client sessions to 314 men. The organisation's own client survey found that at six-month follow-up, 80% of respondents reported their violence had ended completely and a further 16% said it had become milder, with two-thirds having sought help on their own initiative. These are the provider's self-reported figures rather than an independently verified outcome study — no independent evaluation with a control group was found for this specific programme.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
Five psychoeducational/counselling staff (2023) across Helsinki and Kuopio offices, National men's welfare NGO (Miessakit ry) providing organisational and STEA funding infrastructure

Conditions for success

  • Genuine voluntariness — no court mandate — appears linked to two-thirds of participants self-referring
  • Stable STEA (Finnish social-and-health assistance) funding to sustain free access

Common failure modes

  • No independent, controlled outcome evaluation exists; all effectiveness figures are the provider's own client survey

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes CERV — Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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