Czech Republic's punishment for sex offenders: castration (2 Viewers)

[Kwayera]

A doctor makes an incision in a man's scrotal sac and, deftly wielding his scalpel, quickly removes both testicles. In the Czech Republic, that simple operation is the punishment for male sex offenders. But to the Council of Europe, the region's leading human-rights body, the procedure is "invasive, irreversible and mutilating." In a report issued last week, the council called the punishment "degrading" and demanded it be scrapped immediately.

Over the past decade, at least 94 prisoners have undergone the treatment in the Czech Republic, the only country in Europe that continues to surgically castrate sex offenders. The Czech government insists the procedure is a medical issue, one that permanently reduces testosterone levels to lower an offender's sexual urges. And officials say it is performed only at the request of the prisoners themselves. (See pictures of prison life.)

But the Council of Europe — whose Committee for the Prevention of Torture investigated the Czech policy — says it can be described as medical intervention only if the genitalia are diseased or damaged. "Surgical castration is no longer a generally accepted medical intervention in the treatment of sex offenders," the council's report said.

The Czech law has a long pedigree. Castration as punishment dates back thousands of years and crosses all world cultures. The methods have evolved from brutal knife swipes that removed entire genitalia to chemical treatments. Drugs that lower the testosterone, dampen the sex drive and inhibit erections are now available in Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and many American states, but prisoners must volunteer for the treatment before the drugs are administered.

Despite many studies of the effectiveness of castration — both surgical and chemical — the results are inconclusive. Some surveys suggest castration can dramatically reduce recidivism. One 1989 survey in Germany of 104 voluntary castrates showed a 75% drop in sexual interest, libido, erection and ejaculation. But measuring such changes is notoriously difficult and often depends on the subjective self-reports of sex offenders. A 1989 Psychological Bulletin study concluded that "the recidivism rate for treated offenders is not lower than that for untreated offenders; if anything, it tends to be higher." Many other studies emphasize the mental nature of deviant sexual interests, which cannot be cured through surgery. Fred S. Berlin, associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, argues that even if most sexual offenders cannot be cured, many can be successfully treated through counseling. "It depends on the availability of adequate community-based resources, in some instances following a period of residential care," he says.

In its report, the Council of Europe also criticized the fact that the Czechs often use the punishment on first-time, nonviolent offenders, like exhibitionists. Another issue: the Czech penal system effectively forces many prisoners into accepting the procedure out of fear they will be jailed for life if they do not, according to the council. "Given the context in which the intervention is offered, it is questionable whether consent to the option of surgical castration will always be truly free and informed," it said. Investigators found five cases of it being performed on legally incapacitated offenders who were not capable of making an informed decision. They found only two convicts who had spontaneously volunteered for castration.

Civil rights groups say any kind of castration, even if reversible, could take society down the road to eugenics. A 1985 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that involuntary surgical castration constituted cruel and unusual punishment. David Fathi, head of Human Rights Watch's U.S. program in Washington, says the Czech methods not only defy medical convention but also are an affront to civil liberties. "Any irreversible punishment is a fundamental violation of human rights. And any kind of mutilation is barbaric," he says.

Fathi says rehabilitation of sex offenders is far more effective than castration. "There are no easy answers," he says. "But castration does not work any more than cutting off hands treats kleptomania."

What do you think?

Personally, I like it

 

[gibbo153]

big tick in the 'prevention of re-offending' column

not to mention the 'hilarious' column

 

[Boxes]

i like it. imagine how funny it'd look.

oh, and yeah, prevention of child sexual assault. yeah. that too.

 

[gibbo153]

yeah true. its the same conundrum presented by the death penalty debate - 'there are only some things which can be pardoned if one is innocent'

its hard to pardon a corpse, the same way its hard to pardon a man and present him with his testacles back.

 

[Boxes]

does the penis function normally after someone is castrated? like does it still go up and shit?

 

[Kwayera]

Your chances of getting and maintaining a boner are greatly reduced.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

I have some more excellent ideas:

• amputation ears for people who have their music too loud
• gouging out of the eyes for people who pirate movies
• removal of index fingers for gun violence perpetrators
• Sewing lips together for loud mouthed feminists

 

[Will Shakespear]

honestly?

sounds like a law your average Daily Telegraph reader would make

 

[katie tully]

lah, it's stupid

chemical castration, yes. can be stopped/reversed

this is just silly and it's the motherfucking czech republic man, how faithful are you of their legal system

 

[gibbo153]

I have some more excellent ideas:

• amputation ears for people who have their music too loud
• gouging out of the eyes for people who pirate movies
• removal of index fingers for gun violence perpetrators
• Sewing lips together for loud mouthed feminists

amen. the legal system should devise punishments to be used for all crimes that are hilariously/ironically linked.

it would be closely modelled on the saw movies, except funnier.

 

[SnowFox]

lah, it's stupid

chemical castration, yes. can be stopped/reversed

this is just silly and it's the motherfucking czech republic man, how faithful are you of their legal system

Alligator clip the spem duct, thatll fuck em up AND can be reversed.

 

[Kwayera]

Alligator clip the spem duct, thatll fuck em up AND can be reversed.

Uh or not? The sperm duct is not the conduit for the sex hormones produced to go to the brain. That'll be the blood vessels, and if you sever those you have to take out the testes, otherwise you'll have a lovely sack of necrotic material before too long.

 

[katie tully]

they need
to
get some kisspeptin inhibitors

that'll fuck em

 

[Iron]

Barbaric.

What we do to ourselves, we do to Him

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Amen

 

[ZaraKu]

I like the idea

 

[withoutaface]

Seems a bit like cutting off one's balls despite one's face, tbh.

 

[akore]

nothing to but .....OUCH

 

[jb_nc]

What do you think?

Personally, I like it

No shit you like it, you Nazi moral authoritarian.

It is none of your business for you to say sex with children is wrong!

 

[moll.]

I expect this kinda shit in Africa, but the Czech Republic? Serious?
Those crazy Slavs. They got the right idea.