Amnesty International said in one of two reports released Monday to mark Women's Day that the Nordic countries, often hailed as beacons of sexual equality, had failed to tackle sexual violence, with the Finnish government leaving women particularly vulnerable.

The human rights group said in the report that while Denmark, Norway and Sweden had adopted national action plans to address violence against women Finland had not.

"In Finland, the authorities still struggle to recognize gender-based violence against women as an issue for which the state bears responsibility," Amnesty added.

"Without proper resources and indicators, the Finnish government's commitment to prevent violence against women, including rape and sexual violence, will remain an empty promise."

The report said it was plain that Finland had been slower to amend legislation on violence against women and rape when compared with other countries of the region.

"For example, Sweden was one of the first countries in the world to declare rape within marriage a crime, while Finland was among the last in Europe to criminalise marital rape."

About 60 per cent of the respondents in a survey carried out for Amnesty and the University of Lapland in Finland said their level of trust in the capability of the country's justice system to treat rape victims fairly ranged from low to nonexistent.

About one in two respondents said sexual violence was a problem in Finland.

About 1,600 people answered the survey in January.

STT