European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations, Helsinki, Finland - (HEUNI)

 

The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI) was established in 1987 through an Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Finland. HEUNI is based in Helsinki. The objective of HEUNI is to promote the international exchange of information on crime prevention and control among European countries. The topics covered by the institute currently include organized crime, violence against women, trafficking in human beings, corrections and publications of profiles of European criminal justice systems. An on-going activity of HEUNI is an analysis of the European and North American replies to the United Nations surveys on crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems. It includes the review by HEUNI of the approaches used in the context of the surveys.

 

As a member of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network, HEUNI has been actively collaborating with other members on many topics. HEUNI continuously supported and promoted the development, use and application of the United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. HEUNI has contributed to the development of UNECE-UNODC global guidelines for victimization surveys. HEUNI engages PNI partners in the organization of the Stockholm Criminology Symposium.

 

HEUNI initiated a study on national responses to trafficking in human beings in Europe and North America under the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT). The aim of the initiative is to mobilize state and non-state actors for the eradication of human trafficking by reducing both the vulnerability of potential victims and the demand for exploitation in all its forms. HEUNI collected data on all forms of human trafficking (sexual exploitation, forced labor and organ removal) in Europe and North America. The checklist employed questions about legislative and administrative framework, criminal justice response and crime statistics, services provided to the victims of trafficking and other quantitative and qualitative data related to trafficking in persons.

 

In April 2008, at the Seventeenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice the PNIs organized a workshop on the "Eliminating Violence Against Women: Forms, Strategies and Tools". The representative of HEUNI presented the results of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS). It highlighted the importance of conducting international, comparative studies for testing the universal factors associated with violence against women and for supporting the implementation of international agreements and norms related to the violence against women.

 

HEUNI POB 444
(Pitkänsillanranta 3 A)
00531 Helsinki, Finland
Tel: +358 (0)10 366 5280
Fax: +358 (0)10 366 5290
Home page: http://www.heuni.fi/
E-mail: heuni@om.fi
Director: Kauko Aromaa: kauko.aromaa@om.fi
Other contact person: Terhi Viljanen: terhi.viljanen@om.fi

 

Back to PNI Page