Referring a victim to support services

In Finland, support to human trafficking victims is provided by:

  • Assistance system for victims of human trafficking – information on what support the assistance system can provide is available here
  • Organisations – contact details of organisations are available here
  • Social services of wellbeing services counties – if necessary, contact the emergency social and crisis services of your region
  • In emergencies always call the national emergency number 112.

Referring a victim to the Assistance system for victims of human trafficking

The Assistance system for victims of human trafficking provides support to victims of human trafficking and their underage children residing in Finland. Support is also provided to people that are assisting in the investigation of a human trafficking offence.

Authorities and third or private sector operators can refer people to the Assistance system. This means making an application with the person, and it is sometimes called a referral, a proposal or an application. They all mean the same thing.

Making a referral requires that the person has given their consent for the referral. Personal data may not be sent to the Assistance system unless the owner of the data has given their consent.

Referrals should be submitted in writing.

Give information about the Assistance system to the person so that the person can independently decide whether they want to become a client of the Assistance system. You can use the brochure below, which describes the services of the Assistance system in several languages.

Brochures on the Assistance system in different languages.

Urgent situations

In urgent situations you can call the Assistance system for victims of human trafficking. In this case, you do not need to submit a written referral. A situation is urgent if the person requiring assistance does not have a safe place to stay or their safety is under threat, for example.

You must still gain consent from the person when submitting a referral via telephone.

The Assistance system helpline at +358 29 5463 177 is open all day, every day. Outside office hours, the helpline can help with urgent matters or you can leave a call-back request through the service. On weekdays between 8 am and 4:15 pm, calls are answered by the Assistance system’s specialist team.

Completing an application

To submit a referral for accepting a person as a client of the Assistance system do the following:

Forms for referring a person to the Assistance system.

  1. Inform the possible victim of human trafficking about the Assistance system. You can do this by giving them the brochure created for this purpose, for example. The brochure is available in 23 languages. Also, inform the person of the personal data processing carried out by the assistance system (lower section of this page).
  2. Complete the application (‘Referral form – Assistance System for Victims of Human Trafficking’) and read the information provided on the form together. The forms have instructions on how to complete them. If you need guidance, contact the Assistance system by telephone at +358 29 5463 177 or by email at ihmiskauppa.auttamisjarjestelma@migri.fi.
  3. Send the application via a secure method, either by mail or secure email (instructions below).
  4. The Assistance system confirms receipt of the application. After the Assistance system issues its decision on whether they can accept the person you have proposed as a customer, the system will contact the person.

Please note, that as a referral maker, you may not have the right to be informed on whether the person you proposed is accepted as a customer of the Assistance system. The Assistance system can only inform the referral maker if they have a right based on legislation to be informed, or if the referred person consents to the disclosure.

Sending the form securely

The contact details of the Assistance system for victims of human trafficking are available here.

You can also use the following service to send sensitive information securely:  securemail.migri.fi (opens in a new tab). Enter your email address and select ‘Jatka’. After this, continue by selecting ‘Rekisteröidy’ and then follow the instructions sent to your email. You will receive an email that contains a personal link that can be used for sending the sensitive material to us securely. The link is valid for 30 days.

Personal data processing at the Assistance system

Inform the person you are referring on the processing of personal data in the assistance system. This information is available in several languages. You can print or save the leaflets in different languages from here.

Information on personal data processing in different languages.

Full privacy statement

If required, the full privacy statement is accessible here (in Finnish only). You do not need to include the statement in the referral, but the customer has the right to read it if they so wish.