English summary: INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN MILITARY SETTINGS

Several studies have shown that the victims of intimate partner violence are mostly women. As a part of a multinational co-operation project funded by the EU's Daphne II Programme the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland carried out a study in Upinniemi and Vekaranjärvi military bases on intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim of the project was to pilot preventive IPV training for Finnish conscripts and to examine the experiences and views of young recruits on issues related to IPV.

The project was implemented by an expert lecturer and with two consecutive questionnaires. A total of 1389 recruits filled in the first questionnaire and 752 of them participated in IPV sensitization training and filled in the second questionnaire.

This study showed that young men are being abused by their partners almost as often as has been previously reported for women of the same age in Finland. 14 to 17 percent of recruits reported that their intimate partner had hit them. It was also shown that even a short training course could increase the knowledge of recruits on IPV and that the recruits found IPV training suitable for military settings. The training decreased conscripts' acceptance of violent behaviour in intimate relationships especially by female perpetrators and strengthened the social norms.