When you think of Finland, sex might not be the first thing you think of. But, behind the Northern Lights, long winter nights and cosy log cabins, sex might be far more of a national pastime than you’d think. When you throw in the seductive looks of Finnish women, thought by many to be the most beautiful Nordic nation, then you might just be onto something.
The Finns are an adventurous bunch and they regularly top the European charts for many reasons including the most likely nation to have filmed each other during sex and the most promiscuous.
So what is sex in Finland like? Is there a sex industry and just how liberal are the Finns? To find out more, read on…
Contents
The Scandinavian country of Finland, situated to the far North of Europe and, bordering epic neighbor Russia, is home to a small population of 5.5 million people.
Widely distributed through the many towns and cities the country virtually doubles in size with tourism figures reaching an annual 4.6 million visitors many of whom look for some distinctly adult entertainment.
Attitudes Towards Sex in Finland
In general, the public attitude towards sex in Finland is fairly open-minded with the country ranking as the most promiscuous nation in Europe in a 2010 survey. However, over half of all Finns aren’t satisfied with their sex-life and are likely to rate their own sexual performance quite poorly.
In a survey conducted by YouGov, Finland topped many of the more adventurous sex charts in Europe, ranking as the highest proportion of people surveyed who:
- Have filmed themselves having sex (15%).
- Use costume during sex (14%).
- Used a sex toy (39%).
- Have taken Viagra (11%).
- Have been to a strip club (27%).
- Have been unfaithful to a partner (32%).
- Watch pornography (63%).
Unfortunately this level of promiscuity has also led to Finland topping the same poll with the number of people who have reported an STI (16%).
Though sex work is legal in Finland (see Prostitution Laws below) the country is not inundated with prostitutes or adult entertainment venues.
Though a liberal country at heart, Finland operates some degree of censorship over internet access to pornography (see Finland Porn Viewing Trends below).
Adult Industry in Finland
The adult industry in Finland is limited when you compare it to neighbouring Denmark but, in a report produced by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the market is bigger than expected. Revenue generated from videos, magazines and internet porn sites accounts for around €500 million each year.
The study went on to suggest that an estimated 98% of film titles available in Finland have pornographic content. Most of these titles are imported with very few being produced domestically.
The most prominent film director was also the star of his own work, Henry Saari (also known as Henry the Great). The protagonist of his own series of films, Henry the Great, Saari was a former winner of the Mr. Finland title and came third in the Mr. Europe competition.
Finnish born, Rakel Liekki, produced and starred in several movies of note and has been dubbed the ‘apostle of porn’. As well as testing a range of sex toys on a television show, Liekki also performed in a sex guidance video. She retired from the adult industry in 2005 after a stint as a producer for the Finnish TV station, Sextv.
There are a couple of Finnish porn stars of note, including Saana, Marella Inari, Monika Star and Rakel Liekki. Perhaps the best-known Finnish adult star is Heidi Mark, Playmate of the Month in July 1995 and a regular in the Playboy Cyber Club.
A tenuous link but Pamela Anderson’s paternal grandfather was Finnish!
Anna Falchi, born in Tampere in 1972, appeared in the Cemetery Man in 1994 and went on to have a mainstream modelling and television career. She is better known in Italy than the English speaking world.
Prostitution Laws in Finland
Prostitution in Finland is legal but many activities surrounding it are not, including soliciting streetwalking and organised prostitution (pimping or running a brothel). Prostitution laws were relaxed after World War II, prior to which it was illegal to buy and sell sexual services.
There are discussions happening in the Finnish government that are looking to criminalize the purchase of sex and bring the country’s laws in line with other EU member states. At the moment, the legislation is seen as a compromise.
It isn’t clear just how many women are working as prostitutes in Finland and the visibility of the profession is low; most transactions are conducted privately or via the internet. However, advocates of prostitution, Pro-tukipiste r.y. claim that between 1500 and 2000 women use their services each year. The majority of these women are migrants and the best estimates suggest that around 4000 prostitutes work in Finland with 70% of these being foreign.
Most prostitutes advertise their services as escorts using online directories.
Finland Porn Viewing Trends
Censorship
Access to internet porn is censored under state control and has been since 2006. The scheme was established to help combat and police the incidence of child pornography being available (or distributed) in Finland. However, the website lapsiporno.info whose aim is to combat censorship has conducted research to prove that the filters set up are too stringent; effectively blocking innocent, and non-pornographic, sites such as Windows help forums, doll manufacturers and computer repair services. Worryingly for the liberal Finns at the time was the claim that gay porn was also being censored.
In response to the allegations, lapsiporn.info was also blacklisted and access to the site was censored for five years. As of 2017 only a handful of Finnish ISPs allow access to the site from within Finland.
Porn Viewing Stats
According to the annual research conducted by PornHub on international porn viewing trends, the most popular search terms in Finland when it comes to porn are:
- Finnish
- Lesbian
- Step mom
- Suomi (Finnish for ‘Finnish’)
- Teen
- Step sister
- Milf
- Joi (Finnish for ‘drunk’)
- Overwatch
- POV
In 2016, Finland ranked as 40th in the world for traffic to the site but 155th when you factor in the population of the country. Compared to the rest of the world, Finns are more likely to search for porn containing the keywords ‘sauna’ or ‘latex’.
The average visitor from Finland on the PornHub site spent 9 minutes and 25 seconds browsing porn which is 10 seconds shorter than the world average.
Showing its egalitarian nature, Finland has a high proportion of female visitors to the site at 28%; compare this to Germany which has just 20% and Jamaica which has 46%. Women in Finland are more likely to search for lesbian, hentai or gangbang porn.
Top Finnish Porn
The ubiquitous tube site, Porn Hub, has a good range of Finnish porn in their directory including amateur Finns as well as professional stars. You can find a whole range of scenarios including traditional sauna action, outdoor scenes and parodies.
Because of the censorship issues surrounding Finns access to porn sites, there is no data to identify which specific sites are the most popular in Finland but internet traffic reports to tube sites identifies that Porn Hub is the most visited international site.
The same research shows that Finnish site Suomi Porno Videot receives the most hits domestically. This mainly amateur tube site has a large selection of Nordic sex scenes and is well worth hitting up if you are intrigued about Finnish porn.
LGBTQ in Finland
Finland is seen as a liberal and gay -friendly destination and has quite progressive gay rights legislation. The current status of LGBTQ legislations can be summarised as follows:
- Homosexuality was made legal in Finland in 1971 and declassified as an ‘illness’ in 1981. Transvestism took another three decades to follow suit but was dropped as an official ‘illness’ in 2011
- In 2014, Finland legalised same-sex marriage and was the 12th European country to do so.
- The age of consent was equalised in 1999 and is currently 16 years old; the same for heterosexuals.
- Gay and lesbian men and women can serve openly in the Finnish military.
- Transgendered men and women can legally change their gender.
- Gay men must abstain from sex with another man for at least a year before donating blood. This change was a repeal of the total ban on blood donations from homosexuals that was in place before 2013.
An annual Pride festival is run from the country’s capital of Helsinki and is a well-attended event attracting around 10,000 people.
Top Classified/Personals Sites in Finland
Craigslist
Craigslist has a global reputation for its personals section including the famous ‘Casual Encounters’ category. Finland has a Craigslist which is dedicated to Helsinki but does cover much of the country. Pickings can be slim depending on when you search and how quick you are to respond to W4M ads but there are hook-ups available.
As ever with Craigslist, there are a good deal of professional escorts who use the service so don’t be surprised if someone you have connected with turns out to be a hooker.
Iskuri
A quick fire search for local singles, Iskuri is a real mixed bag and can offer a variety of different ways to hook up with Finns. There are several categories you can search in including:
- Seksiseuraa (Sex)
- Tositarkoituksella (Serious dating)
- Matkaseuraa (Travel companion)
The search results can be narrowed by age and location and is a useful way to start browsing opportunities for hook-ups or dating in Finland.
Contact with other members is via the Iskuri website and is free; however, you will need to use Google Translate (or other service) if you don’t speak Finnish.
Dating Walk
www.datingwalk.com/personal-ads/fi/
Free to register but costing you a subscription fee if you want to use the site to make contact with other members, Dating Walk is an international personal ads site. There isn’t a huge Finnish coverage and most of the ads are posted by men looking for women; however, the site is worth a look.
Date Hookup
Date Hookup is also free to join and is an international site offering personal ads from many European countries including Finland as well as North America and Asia. It’s not clear how many singles are advertising in Finland but there appears to be a good selection of results on the initial searches we performed. However, the profiles we found tended to be for women looking for a more serious relationship but we did find a couple of listings that seemed interested in a more casual encounter.
Treffit Suomi
‘Dating in Finland’ is another site where the mix of girls can be heavily leaning towards more serious dates but where you can also find casual hook ups. The site is free to use but you will need to pay fees to use the contact facilities. More men than women, the site does have some good success stories particularly for foreigners who are on an extended stay in the country.
Featured image via Flickr.
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