What is chemical castration?

Singapore is open to chemical castration of sex offenders, if the evidence shows it works, Senior Minister and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Sep. 8.

However, the evidence is inconclusive at the moment.

So, what is chemical castration?

Lowers sex drive

Chemical castration lowers sex drive.

The process uses drugs to reduce sex hormones, such as androgens like testosterone from being produced in the testicles.

This also reduces the effects of sex hormones.

Its effects are short-term.

How is it applied?

Anti-androgen medications are injected at the abdomen or buttocks, or released continuously via implants under the skin, such as on the arm.

The process is repeated as long as hormone production needs to be suppressed.

Pills can also be ingested to block the body’s ability to absorb male hormones.

Which countries have adopted chemical castration?

South Korea became the first country in Asia to use chemical castration on convicted paedophiles in 2011.

Indonesia followed suit in 2020.

Poland and Russia also made chemical castration mandatory.

In Thailand, offenders can volunteer for chemical castration after psychiatric evaluation.

Voluntary chemical castration is also available in Britain, Denmark, and Germany.

How effective is chemical castration?

Offenders in South Korea who undergo chemical castration showed an overall reduction of sex offence recidivism by 92 per cent.

But it costs S$4,700 a year to implement chemical castration measures on a single offender.

What are the side effects?

There are side effects.

Offenders who stop treatment reported experiencing intense sexual urges and fantasies in the first two months after they are no longer treated.

There are also health concerns that the drugs lead to depression, heart disease, weakened bones, and reduced muscle mass.

Ethical concerns

Moreover, critics said sexual offending might not necessarily be driven by sexual urges, and reducing it might not solve the problem of sex crimes.

There is also the ethical issue of how long should offenders be chemically castrated.

Offenders in prison are already serving time for their crimes.

Implementing chemical castration during the prison sentence does not serve the purpose of preventing sex crimes in society, given that the offender is already in prison.

And once they are released, they should be considered to have done their time and punished.

Implementing chemical castration after the prison sentence could be seen as imposing an unusual punishment that could be an overreach of retributive justice.