Crimes | Why do people side with the celebrity who committed the crime? Experts tell what causes the phenomenon

#freeseve. Similar comments have been seen on social media for almost a week now. They are used to defend a hockey player who recently received a two-year rape sentence Severi from Lahti.

After his verdict, Lahtinen published a video on his Instagram account in which he denied his guilt and said that he wanted to “bring a little of his own voice to be heard”.

The video garnered more than 21,000 likes. Some support also came from well-known people: for example, the artist Poju took a stand on the verdict by writing on Instagram that “Bring that damn battery in front of the media to tell his story”.

Later, the artist regretted his exit, retracted his words and apologized to the victim.

But why are so many people still ready to defend Lahti?

THL’s specialist Katriina Bildjuschkin would look for a reason in biology: humans are herd animals for whom it is important to belong to a group.

“Often you want to join it as if it were your own group,” says Bildjuschkin, who works with Seri support centers. Support centers help those who have experienced sexual violence.

It is also about the discussion culture of social media. Before, you would have to form an opinion, write it on paper and post it in the local newspaper, but now you can just quickly spew whatever comes to mind on social media.

“There should have been trouble before. Now everyone is the editor-in-chief of their own life,” he continues.

Bildjuschkin has had a long career working with victims of sexual violence. According to him, defending the convicted is also about silencing the victims.

“I see that in such cases, a large number of people want to keep women quiet. With very shocking force, they want to put women on the line.”

Associate Professor of Forensic Psychology and THL’s leading special expert Taina Laajasalo assesses that it is often difficult for people to associate bad deeds with people they admire. He also thinks that social media has changed the conversation culture.

He comments on the matter on a general level and does not take a direct position on Lahtinen’s case. Lahtinen’s sentence is not yet final, but the case will continue in the Court of Appeal.

“In these discussions, one does not necessarily know the legal processes very deeply or understand that the public never has all the information available in the law, on the basis of which judgments are decided.”

Also a forensic psychologist Pia Puolakka estimates that people have a tendency to think that people of whom they have already had time to form a positive image could not commit bad acts. He also commented on the matter at a general level.

“A person’s first reaction can be shock and disbelief that a person who is considered such a good person cannot commit a crime.”

According to Puolaka, social media strengthens public court – the phenomenon where crimes are dealt with, solved and judged in public, regardless of the decisions of the judiciary.

That toothat rape cases are often word-for-word type crimes can increase social media taking the side of the convicted perpetrator.

“And it is not at all rare for the perpetrator of a sexual crime to deny the act,” points out Laajasalo.

“For example, in sexual crime cases that take place within the family, it is not at all unusual for the family or family to be divided into two sides, the victim and the perpetrator. It’s common,” says Laajasalo.

Laajasalo says that rape myths are often seen in the public debate. Such are, for example, claims that the victim provoked the perpetrator to the act by, for example, her clothing, or that the rape could not have been real if it did not involve violence.

Sometimes the claim that women make rape reports about men out of revenge also comes up on social media. According to Bildjuschkin, the idea of ​​”deceitful women” is completely unsustainable.

“What is it based on? At least not to researched evidence or statistics.”

Groundless reports of rape are rare, says forensic psychologist Puolakka. It is more common for victims to feel shame and guilt, and do not dare to report what happened to anyone.

In light of the statistics and estimates, it is also rare to even get a conviction for rape, Bildjuschkin says.

For example Amnesty’s investigation according to about 50,000 women are victims of sexual violence in Finland every year. According to Amnesty, the majority of these crimes never come to the attention of the police. Crime Prevention Council According to

All experts consider it harmful for the victims that legal cases are handled online.

“The processes are long and difficult for the victims. If the end result is that the October campaign still starts in public, then it’s a serious matter,” says Laajasalo.

“Quite a lot of victims can look at this uproar and think that I don’t have the resources for that,” says Bildjuschk, referring to the support received by ice hockey player Lahtinen.

Victims should primarily seek support from places other than social media, recommends Bildjuschkin. These include numerous organizations and associations, such as the Rape Crisis Center Tukinainen, the Seri support center for victims of sexual violence or the Victims’ Emergency Service.