Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni’s coalition government is making a number of new decisions on law and order issues. Against this backdrop, the parliament there gave a green signal to chemical castration of child sexual exploiters. A committee will now be formed to work on its implementation. The opposition opposed this and called the decision extreme, but Meloni’s government stood firm.
Please tell us the answers to some questions here.
What is chemical castration?
How does it work?
Do other countries have such punishments for pedophiles or rapists?
Will this really curb sex crimes?
This is a medical procedure in which hormone levels in the body are significantly reduced. In sex offenders, levels of male hormones such as testosterone are reduced to such an extent that the desire is either not produced in the offender’s body or is greatly reduced.
The effects of chemical castration may wear off after a period of time, and the sex offender may reoffend once hormone levels return to normal. Therefore, criminals sentenced to this type of punishment must be given drugs again after a certain period of time. This process can also be done through medication or injection. Many times, in addition to sex offenders, patients with serious STDs are also prescribed androgen-blocking drugs.
There is also a camp that opposes
Opponents believe that the main purpose of imposing punishment is to make criminals realize their mistakes and not repeat them again. But in this case, the criminal is punished so severely that he cannot even realize his mistake. Even if the effects of the drug wear off, he may reoffend. They also believe that even if a criminal’s libido is reduced by the effects of the chemicals, his anger remains within him. He may become more aggressive toward women and may even kill her if he is unable to rape her.
Has crime dropped?
Despite all the controversy, country after country is imposing this punishment on sex offenders. Many countries are doing this with serial rapists. But is it effective? Does this punishment reduce crime? There were no direct reports on this. In 2017, Indonesia decided to implement chemical castration as a punishment for raping minors. The pedophile started taking androgen-blocking drugs, but the results were not ideal. According to statistics from the Indonesian Witness and Victim Protection Bureau, there were 70 cases of child abuse in 2017, increasing to 149 cases in a single year. In August 2019, within half a year, approximately 1,200 victims came forward.
Sexual exploitation of women has also increased. According to Indonesia’s National Commission on Violence against Women, sexual crimes against women increased by more than 50% in 2021 compared to 2020.
Even after this, many countries still give this punishment to sex offenders
– Chemical castration was first performed in the United States in 1966. Nine states, including California, Florida, Georgia and Texas, now implement this punishment for pedophiles.
– In September 2009, the Polish Parliament revised the criminal code and decided to implement this penalty for child molesters. So far, Poland has become the first country in Europe to do so.
– In Russia, sex offenders under the age of 14 are also prescribed androgen-blocking drugs.
When the court of the European country Estonia imposed this penalty in 2012, it was clear that the drug should not be taken for a few months, but for three consecutive years.
– In many other countries, such as Ukraine, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Norway and Sweden, chemical castration is a punishment for pedophiles.
Surgical castration is also available in this country
In many countries, prisoners imprisoned for sex crimes choose chemical castration themselves. As is the case in many states across the United States. Prisoners can also avoid punishment if they accept to take the drugs themselves. Some states also perform castration. In the US state of Louisiana, for example, the procedure is done surgically to the point where criminals can no longer even think about it. But this happened under extremely barbaric circumstances.
