The colour comes from Cartagena. So does this.

What Marianco does

Marianco is a non-profit organisation seated in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The work covers three areas: child trafficking, documented sexual abuse of children, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Their own promise is three words, Protect, Educate, Empower.

The founder is Francisco Padilla, who grew up on the street in Cartagena. The organisation carries his mother's name.

We use the words the child rights field uses, and they were chosen rather than inherited. The word child pornography implies a consent that cannot exist. The word child prostitution turns a child into a seller instead of the person a crime is committed against. Do not switch back because the old words feel more familiar.

Why the question is here and not only at checkout

A 2025 study of 329 consumers measured what a checkout donation request does to the person receiving it. Being asked in the moment of payment produces time pressure, guilt and a suspicion that the shop is polishing its own reputation. The result is fewer gifts and a worse view of the shop. At the same time, research on premium goods shows that a partnership with an organisation, shown at the point of sale, raises both purchase intent and order value.

The difference between those two outcomes is not the amount. It is whether the question arrives as pressure or as an offer. That is why this page sits before the checkout, why nothing is pre-ticked, and why there is no countdown anywhere in the flow.

There is no picture of a child either. The subject is the sexual exploitation of children, and selling garments on that exposure would be worse than not asking at all.

What happens to the money

The gift is added to the payment as its own line and lands in our Stripe account. It is booked as a debt to Marianco rather than as income for us, and it appears as a separate amount on your order confirmation. Stripe charges a fee per payment. That fee is our cost and not yours, which is the whole reason we can write that the entire amount goes on.

A gift is not a purchase. There is nothing given in return, so there is no turnover and no VAT to calculate on it. It is also left out of the free shipping threshold, because a gift should not be able to buy you a shipping discount.

What we do not claim: Marianco does not currently hold a Swedish 90-konto and is not an approved gift recipient with Skatteverket. Your gift therefore carries no tax relief and is not reviewed by Svensk Insamlingskontroll. This stands here because a giver has the right to know it before giving, not after.

Giving every month instead of once

The fee is charged per payment. A gift each month therefore costs less in fees over a year than the same sum given in many small portions, and it gives the organisation something to plan around. That is the only reason we will mention it.

Monthly giving is run by Marianco themselves. We send you there and put nothing in between, and we never hand over your address. Marianco write themselves that monthly giving can be stopped through the link in any of their emails, with no phone call.

If a child is in danger right now

Marianco does not replace any authority, and neither do we. Call 112 if a child is in immediate danger. Call 114 14 to report a crime that is not ongoing. ECPAT Sweden's hotline takes anonymous tips about suspected sexual exploitation of a child. BRIS answers children up to 18 on 116 111.

Wearing it

A receipt sits in a folder. A patch on a lapel is seen by someone else, and that someone else is the entire point. VAT on a sold item goes to the state whatever we think about it. What is left goes on.