COLOMBIA CONSIDERS CHEMICAL CASTRATION FOR RAPISTS AMID RISE IN CHILD SEX ABUSE CASES

[Judi Lynn]

BY ROBERT VALENCIA ON 4/27/18 AT 4:37 PM

This week, the Colombian Senate approved a bill to combat child sex abuse that includes the use of chemical castration for rapists. The country is grappling with a staggering number of cases of sex crimes against minors, according to local reports.

The bill will now have to be passed by the House of Representatives. Convicts can also voluntarily ask the Health Ministry to receive free “anaphrodisiac” drugs that lower sexual desire, coupled with psychiatric and psychological treatment. The proposal includes a national criminal registry that would monitor offenders’ conduct in order to avoid future sexual assault, as well as prison sentences between 30 to 41 years.

Senator Maritza Martinez of the U Party, who authored the bill, told local press that “it’s not about genital mutilation for men and women or whoever commits this kind of offense, it’s about taking medication—via tablets or injection—to inhibit and curb sexual desire in rapists.”

She told radio station La FM that “every hour in Colombia, two minors are being raped, which is almost 48 children per day, so it is imperative that we bring in an instrument to control this crime, and that’s what the bill is for.”

More:
http://www.newsweek.com/colombia-child-rape-chemical-castration-bill-senate-904765?piano_t=1