Violence against women In May the UN Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights recommended that Finland should
consider specific legislation to criminalize domestic violence.
By the end of 2007 the government had not adopted a national
action plan to combat violence against women. Refugees and
asylum-seekers Accelerated asylum-determination procedures
continued to deny sufficient time for claims to be considered
thoroughly, and for every asylum-seeker to exhaust all avenues
of appeal. Some asylum-seekers were expelled while their appeals
were still pending. The strict application of the so-called
“Dublin II” regulations led to asylum-seekers being returned to
the EU member state in which they first arrived for
determination of their claim for asylum, even in circumstances
where it was likely they would have been offered some form of
subsidiary protection in Finland which might not be available in
other EU states. Asylum-seekers, including children, were
detained unnecessarily. In some cases the right