The limitations of chemical castration have been brought to light, too.
It is known to only be effective when an individual is actively receiving medication in the form of pills or injections. It is essentially reversed once an offender stops being administered with either of these, meaning missed doses or cessation of treatment could result in urges to commit violent sexual acts re-emerging.
Other academics in the field of criminology remain highly sceptical that the drugs involved in chemical castration are capable of resolving the deep-rooted psychological and social problems that plight sex offenders.
‘People do not become sex offenders solely because of certain hormones or hormonal imbalances,’ Dirk Baier of ZHAW Institute of Delinquency at Zurich University in Switzerland told Euronews.
‘The development into a sexual offender takes place in a longer-term socialisation process. The personality that is formed through this process cannot then simply be changed through drug treatment.’
Not to mention, there is a major ethical debate around the process that is worth considering.
Medical experts and human rights campaigners warn of the moral issues surrounding chemically castrating human beings. The chemical cocktail is known to cause depression, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, hot flashes, infertility, and anaemia.
And although many people would have zero sympathy for a violent sex offender who was experiencing this as part of their punishment, any country run under a democracy is legally obliged to maintain the well-being of its prisoners as a matter of justice.
That said, this hasn’t stopped some nations – including some members of the EU – from adopting it.
Chemical castration is already the legal punishment for sex offenders in Pakistan and Indonesia. Russia is also considering it as a preventative measure administered to paedophiles before they are released into society at the end of their prison sentence.
In Germany and the UK, chemical castration is legal on a voluntary basis for mentally ill sex offenders. In Moldova and Ukraine, it is used on a case-by-case basis, depending on the age of the victim or the age of the perpetrator respectively.
At present, Poland is the only country in the EU which has made chemical castration compulsory for rapists and child sex abusers.
There is sure to be an intense moral, social, and cultural debate around legalising chemical castration in Italy. Left-leaning politicians have already answered by saying that cultural attitudes surrounding violence in Italy need to be shifted, starting from school.
It’s likely that many against chemical castration as a punishment will advocate for rehabilitation programs and therapies that help sex offenders consider their own behaviour, encourage them to take responsibility, and learn to develop and practice alternative coping strategies.
We’ll have to see how things unfold. However, a heated debate is sure to continue not only in Italy, but in other EU countries struggling to address the problem of sexual violence within their own borders.
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