UK tests chemical castration for sex offenders

British Minister of Justice Shabana Mahmood At Thursday’s parliamentary meeting, she announced the extension of a project that investigates in British prisons whether chemical castration, as part of a mandatory sentence for sex offenders, especially in conditional release, is effective and whether it could be introduced into law.

This is part of the initiative proposed by one of its predecessors David Gauke to reduce prisons overload. « We need to ensure the use of all available assets that could reduce the number of crimes, » according to BBC Mahmood said. 20 prisons across England and Wales would be included in the project.

Gauke stated in his report that 21 percent of all prisoners in the UK are sexual offenders. In the report, he called on a large -scale survey to collect data on the effectiveness of chemical castration and investigate the possibilities for further obtaining funds for the rehabilitation of sex offenders. At the same time, he stressed that the procedure is not suitable for all sex offenders and should not be used as a preventative means, reports BBC.

The legislation and the issue of ethics of the procedure also present a problem. Voluntary chemical castration is possible in Germany and Denmark, and in Poland, since 2009, it has been mandatory for sex offenders who have raped children or family members. Similar laws have been adopted, among others, by Russia and Moldova and some Asian countries. In the United States, California became the first federal state in 1996 to adopt a law on compulsory chemical castration for pedophiles who have repeatedly abused childrenunder 13 years of age, on conditional release. Similar laws were followed by Georgia, Iowa, Texas and Montana.

In the UK, for the time being, they are still studying the ethical and practical characteristics of the legislation of other countries that have already adopted either voluntary or forced chemical castration for sex offenders, states BBC. The question is also raised – in the event that the UK adopts the law on forced chemical castration – whether doctors will want to perform the procedure or whether they will enforce the conscience objection.

Chemical castration is not enough to rehabilitate offenders

Chemical castration is a two -part process. The patient is injected or inserted by anti -signogens that reduce testosterone production and reduce libido, while also taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors that limit invasive sexual thoughts. Nevertheless, medicines are not sufficient to rehabilitate sex offenders, but are prescribed to the patient in combination with psychotherapy.

Medical or hormonal castration in the form of taking anti -signogens is also used in some cases of prostate and breast cancer disease and works as long as the patient is taken. Only in rare cases is chemical castration permanent. The procedure has side effects such as depression, fever, osteoporosis, anemia, problems in fat and sugar metabolism, infertility, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and weight loss.

Since chemical castration research in sex offenders is limited, especially with the number of participants and because they are years of procedures, it is difficult to assess how effective they are. Nevertheless, according to Mahmood’s, there is a minor survey that compares two groups of delinquents – one who has opted for chemical castration and another that did not decide. A group of chemically castrated sex offenders reached a 60 percent lower sexual assault rate after releasing from prison. Nevertheless, it is not entirely clear whether hormone therapy, psychotherapy or other factors were credited for the lesser attack.

Robert Janricka judicial representative for the Conservative Party, on the proposal of Mahmood, to reduce the overload of British prisons, responded that shortened prison sentences and conditional releases would decarize crimes such as burglary, theft and attack. He said that electronic tracking devices carried by the offenders on conditional discharge play the same role in preventing the law from breaking the law « as fire alarms in bonfiring », states,  » Cnn.