From Concern to Change: Building Safer Relationships for Girls and Young Women in Järvenpää

In Järvenpää, Finland, local data revealed a worrying reality. In 2023, 13% of young people reported experiencing sexual violence, compared with 9% nationally, while harassment and violence affecting girls and young women remained a particular concern. For SI Järvenpää, the figures pointed to a clear need for action: to help reduce and prevent the sexual harassment and violence experienced by girls and young women.

The Club brought the issue to the City of Järvenpää, proposing a preventive approach centred on emotional and safety skills. From this dialogue, a partnership emerged between Soroptimists, the City and specialist organisations, with the aim of helping young people recognise harmful behaviour and build safer relationships.

Importantly, the initiative did not focus on girls alone. Preventing violence against girls and young women also means addressing the attitudes, behaviours and relationships surrounding them. The project therefore involved both girls and boys, reaching all 8th-grade pupils in the city.

Across 24 classes, around 500 young people took part in expert-led workshops integrated into their health education. Through interactive sessions, pupils explored safe dating and relationships, different forms of harassment and violence, including physical, psychological and economic violence and coercion, as well as the support available locally and online. Parents were also provided with information, allowing the conversation to continue beyond school and within families.

Two years later, there are encouraging signs of progress. The 2025 School Health Promotion Study showed that reported experiences of sexual violence in Järvenpää had fallen from 13% to 10%, although they remained slightly above the national average. Feedback from the workshops provided another positive indicator: 80% of respondents said they had learned how to act more safely towards others.

But the initiative has also begun to influence how the issue is addressed beyond the classroom.

By bringing attention to the harassment experienced by girls and presenting cross-sector cooperation as a concrete response, SI Järvenpää helped place the issue on the wider local agenda. The City of Järvenpää has since strengthened measures to prevent harassment and violence, extending its efforts beyond education to other municipal services. Public communication and media engagement have further helped bring the issue into the wider community.

The change is also being built to last. Following positive feedback from pupils and teachers, the workshops will continue annually from 2026, embedding prevention into the city’s approach rather than treating it as a one-off intervention. The cooperation model has also attracted wider interest and is being developed into a concept that could be replicated by other Soroptimist Clubs.

What began with a concern about the safety of girls and young women in one community has therefore grown into something broader: a preventive approach involving young people, families, specialists and local authorities, with the potential to reach other communities as well.

For the Soroptimists in Järvenpää, the message is clear: protecting girls and young women from violence does not begin only when violence occurs. It also means changing the environment around them; one classroom, one conversation and one community at a time.