Brazilian bank Bradesco has become the First Institution in the Latin America region to join the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography (FCACP). The International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) announced that Banco Bradesco, one of the largest financial institutions in Latin America, is now part of the FCACP.Â
The coalition is a group of leading banks, credit card companies, third party payment companies and Internet services firms working together to fight commercial child pornography over the Internet. Launched in 2006, the initiative is managed by ICMEC and its sister organization, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Child pornography has become a multi-billion dollar commercial enterprise and is among the fastest growing businesses on the Internet. The Internet has enabled instant access to child pornography by thousands and possibly millions of individuals around the world.Â
Consumers are able to use traditional payment tools, such as credit cards, as well as new, alternative payment schemes, to purchase child pornography on the Internet. The mission of the coalition is to follow the flow of funds and shut down the payments accounts used by these illicit enterprises.
"From the start of the Coalition, we knew that it would take a truly global effort to tackle this horrendous problem," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Chairman of the Coalition. "Banco Bradesco's commitment, expertise and leadership role in the financial industry will fortify our efforts as we work to disrupt the economics of commercial child pornography."
Other members of the Coalition include America Online, American Express Company, Authorize.Net, Bank of America, The Bank of New York Mellon, Capital One, Chase Paymentech Solutions, CheckFree, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Americas, Discover Financial Services, Elavon Inc., First Data Corporation, First National Bank of Omaha, Global Payments Inc., Google, HSBC – North America, JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard, Microsoft, North American Bancard, PayPal, ProPay Inc., PREMIER Bankcard, Standard Chartered Bank, Visa, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, Western Union, and Yahoo! Inc.
The exact number of child pornography web sites is difficult to determine. In 2001, the CyberTipline, a U.S. reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation operated by NCMEC, received more than 24,400 reports. By October 2008, the number of reports had climbed to more than 636,000.
The International Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization. It is the leading agency working on a global basis to combat child abduction and exploitation. It is the sister organization of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the United States.Â
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is also a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Since it was established by Congress in 1984, the organization has operated the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 2.3 million calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 132,300 children.Â
The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 636,600 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 18,559,000 child pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Service
ICMEC
www.icmec.org
NCMEC
24-hour hotline: 1-800-THE-LOSTÂ
www.missingkids.com
