About 200 people were arrested on 16 March for child pornography, thanks to the Europol “Operation Rescue”. The investigation was initiated three years ago by the police forces of 30 countries, to investigate a large scale international child pornography ring, centered in the Netherlands. 

An important break in the case came when Dutch authorities arrested Amir Ish-Hurwitz, the brains behind the internet forum Boylover.net, the key hub of the ring. At its peak, the forum had more than 70,000 members around the world.

At the same time, Europol also announced that about 230 people were stopped, questioned and searched by authorities in three European airports, during an international operation targeting potential travelling sex offenders. The operation was planned and executed by Europol in joint cooperation with police, customs and border authorities in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The main action took place at the international airports of Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Stockholm.

Paedophilia, child pornography, children trafficking represent a serious problem mainly for the poorest countries but also in Europe.

According to European Commission studies, a large number of children in Europe – between 10 and 20 per cent - will be sexually assaulted during their childhood.

In 2009, a United Nations report by UNICEF estimated that in the world there are more than four million websites featuring minors, including children aged under two years, and that more than 200 new images are circulated daily.

The report warned that about 750,000 sexual predators are constantly prowling the Internet in a bid to gain contact with children and estimated that between 10,000 and 100,000 minors are victims of the child pornography network. The report assessed that the production and distribution of such images generates between $3 billion and $20 billion annually.

Fighting sexual abuse of children is a top priority. For this reason Europol also launched Project HAVEN - Halting Europeans Abusing Victims in Every Nation - in November last year. The project aims to detect and disrupt travelling sex offenders originating in the EU who exploit children both inside and outside Europe.

One of the most serious restrictions in this fight, is that Europol officials can only support and coordinate national police activities. They cannot undertake investigations themselves and cannot make arrests. Hence, without a strong commitment of national Governments these operations are bound to give a limited contribution to the fight against child pornography.