Convicted paedophiles could face mandatory chemical castration to suppress their libidos under plans being considered by the justice secretary. Shabana Mahmood is said to be weighing up giving the drugs to sex offenders to reduce reoffending and free up prison space. But while the idea – announced on the Sun’s front page yesterday under the headline ‘paedos to be castrated’ – is sure to be popular, chemical castration isn’t as effective as its supporters might hope. Its use could lull courts, and society in general, into a false sense of security about the danger that sex offenders pose.
Chemical castration isn’t as effective as its supporters might hope
The use of drugs to suppress the production of testosterone – which could form part of the chemical castration of criminals – is commonly used as a treatment for prostate cancer. But even when given to older men, such as my late husband, Jeremy, who died of prostate cancer two years ago, it can take a long time, years even, for it to reduce both libido and sexual function.
Unsurprisingly, the effectiveness of the drugs can vary between patients. Viagra-type drugs can be taken to restore a man’s sexual function. Injectable testosterone can also be acquired. What’s to stop offenders getting hold of such drugs and continuing to pose a threat to vulnerable girls?
In any case, it’s worth remembering that rape is only part of a paedophile’s agenda. As a child, I was a victim of psychological and sexual abuse. I lived for a long time with the consequences: I failed to get into university and married too young. Up until my early fifties, I was too often an easy, confrontation-avoiding target for bullies and creeps. Only now, at an age when many people are thinking about retiring, am I able to support myself partly by doing the things that interest me; writing and painting.
The Independent Sentencing Review, in which the proposal to castrate sex offenders is mentioned, says that ‘problematic sexual arousal and preoccupation can be reduced via chemical suppressants’. But while the review concedes that more trials need to be conducted before the plan is rolled out, you can hardly blame victims of sexual violence for feeling worried.
When I worked as a nurse, some of the women I looked after had been sexually abused as children. Many suffered from eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, anxiety and depression, and were barely able to function. Some became prostitutes to fuel heroin addiction. I’ve never forgotten a tiny anorexic woman who, in her mid twenties, looked about eight. She’d been starved and abused sexually and physically as a child. She married to escape but found when her husband got angry he would deride her for having ‘been with her Da’” first.
Paedophiles are a real danger – more so than those jailed for offensive social media posts. Not only are they wandering around outside our takeaway food outlets, sports clubs, schools and churches befriending and grooming vulnerable children and parents; they might be sitting beside us on the sofa.
Chemical castration for sex offenders might generate good headlines for the government, but it isn’t the easy solution Mahmood is hoping for.
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