H owever, discussions of pornography, sexual harassment, rape, wife abuse and the sexual coercion of wives have subdued until the 1990s in Finland. These family violence phenomena cannot be seen as cases of class or regional inequality as can abortion. Family violence occurs in all social categories, which makes it essentially an issue centred on the relationship between the sexes. Finland is more conservative than the other Nordic countries in this issue area. For example, rape occurring in marriage was only criminalized in 1994, and family violence was only made a matter for the public prosecutor in 1995.
T here are also other indications of attitudinal patriarchy in Finland.
The right of married women to retain their own last names and the right of women to be ordained did not become legal until the 1980s. Unlike their counterparts in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Finnish homosexual couples cannot legalize their relationship. F inland was one of the success stories of the 1990s although the story is marred by some depressing features. As the new millennium opened, Finland had shown its ability to survive its most recent ordeal, namely deep economic recession, and to adapt to new circumstances such as membership of the European Union and economic and monetary union. The recession did not turn into the setback to the welfare state and gender equality that some feared it would.