What our work is measured against
Marianco did not invent its standards. The work sits inside treaties, directives and goals that exist independently of us, that anyone can read in full, and that we can be held to.
Why this page exists
Anyone asking strangers for money in this field should expect to be checked. Sincerity is not evidence: every organisation claims it, including the ones that turn out to be fronts.
So instead of describing our own values, this page names the instruments our work is meant to satisfy. They were written by bodies we have no influence over, they are public, and they are specific enough to be measured against.
If something we do falls short of what is listed here, that is a failure on our part, not a difference of opinion.
United Nations treaties
Binding on the states that have ratified them, and the basis for most national law on this subject.
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Adopted 1989, in force 1990 · Articles 19, 34 and 35
Article 19 requires protection from all forms of violence, injury, abuse and neglect. Article 34 requires protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Article 35 requires states to prevent the abduction, sale and trafficking of children for any purpose.
Read the full text, Convention on the Rights of the ChildOptional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Adopted 2000, in force 2002
Requires states to criminalise the sale of children, their sexual exploitation and the production and distribution of material recording their abuse, and to protect child victims throughout the criminal process. On the wording of its title, see the note on terminology below.
Read the full text, Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornographyProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
Adopted 2000, in force 2003 · The Palermo Protocol
The first agreed international definition of trafficking. It establishes that where the victim is a child, none of the means normally required, force, deception, coercion, need be shown. Recruiting or transferring a child for exploitation is trafficking whether or not the child appeared to agree.
Read the full text, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
United Nations goals
The 2030 Agenda, adopted by all member states in 2015. Not law, but the targets against which this work is counted internationally.
Sustainable Development Goal 16.2
2015, target year 2030
End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. This is the target our work reports against most directly.
Read the full text, Sustainable Development Goal 16.2Sustainable Development Goal 5.2
2015, target year 2030
Eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in public and private life, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
Read the full text, Sustainable Development Goal 5.2Sustainable Development Goal 8.7
2015
Eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including the recruitment of child soldiers.
Read the full text, Sustainable Development Goal 8.7
European Union
Directly relevant to us: Marianco is a Swedish organisation, and these bind Sweden.
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Binding since 2009 · Articles 1, 5(3) and 24
Article 1: human dignity is inviolable, and must be respected and protected. Article 5(3): trafficking in human beings is prohibited. Article 24: children have the right to the protection and care necessary for their well-being, and in every act concerning them the child's best interests must be a primary consideration.
Read the full text, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European UnionDirective 2011/36/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1712
Amendment in force July 2024, to be transposed by 15 July 2026
The EU's anti-trafficking rules. The 2024 amendment brings forced marriage, illegal adoption and exploitation of surrogacy explicitly within trafficking, and requires member states to sanction those who knowingly use the services of a trafficked person.
Read the full text, Directive 2011/36/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1712Directive 2011/93/EU
In force since 2011; a recast was politically agreed in June 2026 and is not yet in force
Criminal law on the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, and on material recording it. Until the recast is published and transposed, this is the directive that applies; the agreed update is aimed at online offending and at AI-generated abuse material.
Read the full text, Directive 2011/93/EU
Council of Europe
Wider than the EU, and the most detailed European standard on prevention specifically.
Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
Adopted 2007, in force 2010 · The Lanzarote Convention
The first instrument to require states to criminalise every form of sexual offence against children, including grooming. It is also the one that says most about prevention: screening people who work with children, education for children themselves, and support programmes for people at risk of offending.
Read the full text, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
A note on the words
One instrument above is titled with the phrases "child prostitution" and "child pornography". We cite it under its real name, because that is what it is called and what a reader will search for, and we do not use those words anywhere else.
Prostitution implies someone selling something. A child in that situation is being sold. Pornography describes material adults consent to make, and a child cannot consent to any of it.
The terms the field uses instead are commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sexual abuse material. They are set out in the Luxembourg Guidelines, agreed in 2016 by ECPAT, UNICEF, Europol, Interpol and others, and we follow them.
If this concerns you or a child you know
Do not report it to us. We are not an authority, we cannot investigate, and a report made here would not reach anyone who can act on it. These are the services that can.
Emergency (Sweden)
112If a child is in immediate danger.
Police, non-emergency (Sweden)
114 14To report a crime that is not ongoing.
ECPAT hotline
ecpat.se/hotlineReport suspected sexual exploitation of a child, anonymously.
BRIS (children up to 18)
116 111Free, anonymous support for children.
What this page does not claim
Naming a standard is not the same as being certified against it, and nothing here says anyone has audited us. Marianco does not hold a 90-konto and is not a member of Giva Sverige. This page lists what the work is meant to satisfy, so that anyone can check whether it does.