Jessika Sillanpää

Around 160,000 children a year have a parent convicted of a crime where the children are left without support. Jessika was one of them in 2012, when her father went to prison for the attempted murder of her mother. The lack of support and knowledge from society, authorities and a lack of national guidelines for relatives of those convicted of a crime left her with thoughts of suicide, criminality, loans and drugs. 

Today she is a consultant, lecturer and certified grief counsellor and helps others in similar situations. Her mission is to change the conditions for support, both now and in the long-term in Sweden, but also globally through Jessikasstory. 

She’s helped many people break free from their own emotional prison through lecturing, coaching, consultation and media participation. She has participated in the National Crime Victims’ Week as an expert on relatives of those convicted of a crime, appeared on TV4’s programme Malou Nach Ten and spoken on Swedish radio about her story. 

In the future, she wants to develop online courses and seminars on her website, be more involved in the public sector and expand her work outside of Sweden.