Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 28 August 1996
Trevor Datson

A conference in Stockholm has heard the child sex trade is worth billions of dollars a year and that at least a million new children every year are forced into child prostitution, sold for sexual purposes or used in pornography, according to estimates by the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.

"I do feel that the private sector is one of the most important groups to reach. The tourism industry, and airlines should all be held more responsible, and if they bring their resources to bear then we can tackle the problem," Amihan Abueva, executive secretary of End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT),

Officials say that sex tourism is an important source of sexual abuse of children in Asian countries.

Abueva targeted the travel and tourism industry in an interview with Reuters.

"It's irresponsible for people who are indirectly earning millions of dollars from the child sex trade to say they have no responsibility in this area," she said.

"This is the type of industry where self-regulation is absolutely essential. But, if we recognize that legal systems are lagging behind, then it's time to try and find ways of catching up," she said.

Such action must not be limited to governments and non-governmental bodies such as ECPAT, she said.

Key customer groups for child prostitutes such as seamen and business travelers could also be prevented by employers from supporting the child sex trade, she said.

ECPAT was one of a handful of groups that took the initiative for the Stockholm congress that opened Tuesday with over 1,000 delegates from 130 countries discussing ways of tackling the growing problem of the child sex trade.

Since the start of the conference, as if to underline how widespread the issue is, horrifying pedophile cases have come to light in Australia, Belgium and Finland.

Finnish police said Wednesday they discovered in a Helsinki apartment a massive computer library of exceptionally repellent pornography using Caucasian and Asian children, and including pictures of torture, mutilation and cannibalism.

Police seized two computers and nearly 350 floppy disks from the home of a 19-year-old student, but could not arrest him because they do not have the powers. Under Finnish law, which is modelled on the liberal Nordic norm, distributing hard-core pornography is a minor offense.

Even where the law is adequate, prosecutors are quick to dismiss sex crime cases, said Merja-Maarja Turunen, senior medical officer and psychiatrist at the National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health.

She quoted an editorial comment on the issue in one Finnish daily which said it was "such a minor problem, let's sweep it under the rug again."

In Belgium police Wednesday were digging for human remains at a property owned by Marc Dutroux, chief suspect in a child sex and kidnapping ring being held responsible for at least 15 disappearances.

Nine other suspects have been arrested.

Although Belgian legislation on child prostitution and pornography is among the strictest in the world, Belgian Foreign Minister Erik Derycke told the conference the recent tragedies proved national paperwork was not enough anywhere.

Berlin prosecutors said they filed charges against two German men for sexually abusing children in Thailand and distributing pornographic films and pictures of their degrading acts.

The case is one of only a handful in which authorities have managed to track down suspects under a law which lets them pursue Germans who commit sex offenses abroad.

A 75-year-old Australian man was charged Tuesday with 850 child sex crimes in Australia, after being charged with committing similar offenses in Thailand.
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