Combating sexual violence — is ‘chemical castration’ a valid method?
Pakistan is considering "chemical castration" as a punishment for rapists and sex offenders. But is the method effective? What are the ethical implications? European countries have varying experiences.
A demonstrator during a protest against the motorway gang rape in Pakistan, 2020. (AP)“Chemical castration” is a popular term for what doctors call “anti-libidinal” treatment. It means reducing male testosterone by administering a drug similar to the female hormone progesterone through injections or pills.
“There are indications that it works, but there is no concrete evidence to prove how effective it is,” Jürgen Müller, a Göttingen-based neurologist, and forensic psychiatrist, told DW.
To date, no international study has been conducted that could effectively evaluate the success of this treatment.
But several countries in Europe, including Germany, offer castration to potential and convicted sexual offenders — as one form of treatment, not as a punishment, and only on a voluntary basis.
A model for Pakistan?
Pakistan is currently debating whether it should introduce “chemical castration” as a punishment for sexual abuse.
Life imprisonment and the death penalty are the current punishment options for rapists and pedophile offenders under Pakistan’s criminal code.
But the country is considering additional measures following nationwide outrage in response to a growing number of rape cases.
In 2018, 7-year-old Zainab was raped and murdered in the district of Kasur near the provincial capital of Lahore. In the wake of this incident, violent protests erupted in Kasur, and people all over the country took to the streets demanding justice.
During the DNA testing of the suspect, it was found that he was responsible for at least five other rapes. He was hanged for his crimes the same year.
In 2020, the nation was once again enraged when a woman was gang-raped on a motorway near Lahore in front of her two young children. The case is still being tried in court.
Prime Minister Imran Khan suggested public hangings of rapists and pedophiles. But he stressed that international pressure was holding him back: Pakistan’s trade status with the European Union could be threatened, he said.
“What my opinion is is that we should do ‘chemical castration’; we need new laws that leave these people incapable of any sexual acts,” Khan then suggested, and an ordinance was proposed that would add anti-libidinal treatment to the penal code.
Does ‘chemical castration’ prevent rape?
Chemical castration has been found to be effective in reducing sex drive and the seminal fluid in a male. But this does not prevent sexual violence or aggressive behavior.
Even reducing the testosterone level to zero does not eliminate chances of reoffending. “One doesn’t need to have an erection to be able to molest a child or rape a person,” explains sociologist Andrej König from Dortmund University. Even if the men cannot penetrate, they can still show aggressive and problematic behavior.
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