Swedish banks urged to team up against child pornography

Nov 3, 2008, 9:48 GMT

Stockholm - The Swedish government and banks unveiled plans Monday to cooperate in freezing payments to criminal organizations engaged in child pornography.

'If we can prevent the payments, we strike directly at the criminal activities of the gangs,' Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell and Fredrik Sauter, chief executive of online bank Skandiabanken, said in a joint op-ed article in the daily Dagens Nyheter.

The sale of child porn is believed to be extremely lucrative, but it is hard to trace payments.

Odell and Sauter noted that a few years ago companies in the travel business agreed to tackle child prostitution and 'now it is time for the banks to actively fight child pornography. That is best done by finding ways to prevent the financial systems being used to pay for child pornography.'

Along with the Swedish branch of child rights group End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children For Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) they called on banks to act jointly to halt payments to the organizations that operate online sites that offer child pornographic images.

A meeting of Swedish banks was pending.

Over the weekend, Swedish Queen Silvia called for tighter legislation that would make it an offence to view child pornographic images on the internet.

Current Swedish legislation bans the possession, production or distribution of child pornography. Offenders risk a six-year jail term.

The queen - patron of ECPAT Sweden - said she hoped Sweden would introduce legislation mirroring moves by neighbouring Denmark and Norway that would also make it an offence to view the images on online sites.

She also underlined that in her view it was crucial to protect the rights of the victims.

'These photos or moving images remain on the internet,' the queen said.