Swedish model to fight child sex trade

Sweden, the current holder of the European Union’s term presidency, has opened an all-out war against the trafficking of children for sexual purposes. The lucrative global industry has experienced dramatic growth in recent years.

With victims getting younger and younger – including the exploitation of infants – Swedish efforts focus on curbing the enormous demand for minors.

“The strong driving forces behind [child trafficking] are financial gain and consumer demand. The demand factor is really strong,” said Helena Karlen, secretary general of ECPAT Sweden, a global network of organizations working together to eliminate child prostitution, child pornography and the child sex trade.

Hotline

ECPAT Sweden, a subdivision of ECPAT International, first established a hotline where the public can anonymously provide tips on suspected child-porn Web sites or suspected cases of child trafficking for sexual purposes.

“For many, it is easier to reach an organization instead of the police. We receive 1,000 to 1,500 tips a month, which are sorted and forwarded to the police for investigation. We have very good collaboration with the police,” said Karlen. 

With increasing technological advancements, everything has become computerized today, which makes it easy for people to erase child-porn material from their hard drives during police raids, she said.

“Ten years ago, during police raids, [pornography] was on video and film. What the police do today is cut electricity first and then raid buildings.

“Our primary task is to stop demand. If demand is not there, there will be no production,” said Karlen.

No access to illegal Web sites

After launching the hotline, ECPAT Sweden approached Internet service providers, or ISPs, and urged them to block access to child-porn sites, which would reduce the income of criminal groups affiliated with the sites. Major ISPs in Sweden currently block commercial child-porn sites.

“According to police statistics, approximately 50,000 attempts to access child-porn sites are stopped daily in Sweden alone,” said Karlen. “This gives us a picture of the demand.”

Those who attempt to access child-porn sites see the police logo and know that it is banned under the Swedish penal code, which was preventative, Karlen said. Attempts to access these sites most often take place in the evenings, but also between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m., she said.

Lobbying for a law

ECPAT Sweden lobbied at the parliamentary level to pass a law that criminalizes possession and distribution of child-abuse materials.

“The law was a source of great debate. We telephoned all the deputies before the vote in parliament and took note of what they said and then published them in newspapers, which made the deputies unable to change [their minds] during the vote,” said Karlen.

In 1999, Sweden criminalized the production, distribution and possession of child-abuse materials with penalties ranging from a fine to maximum six-year prison sentence.

Banks also involved

EXPAT Sweden later approached Swedish banks and asked them to collaborate with the police to stop transactions, because some banks are used to transfer money from Sweden to illegal organizations. 

“We signed formal contracts with the main banks in Sweden. The development is wonderful,” said the secretary-general.

This step received support of the European Banking Federation, which issued a written statement in 2007 calling on banks to counter illegal activities including child pornography and to the EU member states to collaborate and follow the Swedish example.

Preventing sex tourism

ECPAT Sweden also approached a professor, Christian Diesen of Stockholm University, whose  research indicates that Swedes traveling abroad are responsible for 3,000-5,000 child-prostitution purchases on an annual basis. As a result, a code of conduct was developed with the main tour operators in Sweden to stop child sex tourism.

Sweden is continuing efforts to fight against child sexual exploitation on all fronts and influencing other countries to follow suit. Karlen said the fight will continue because demand continues and calls for cooperation at the international level.