Gang rape that shook Italy: chemical castration is on the agenda

After seven men gang-raped a 19-year-old woman in Italy, calls are being made for the implementation of forced chemical castration in the country.

Seven men between the ages of 18 and 22 raped and filmed the gruesome attack on a 19-year-old woman in Palermo, Sicily early last month. With details revealed in the case that began last week, there has been an explosion of anger in Italy.

As reported by Euronews, the controversial eunuch solution proposed by far-right politician Matteo Salvini received strong support from many quarters.

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The operation with eunuchs is already allowed voluntarily in many EU countries. That is, the offender can choose this in exchange for not fully or partially serving his sentence. Only in Poland are child rapists and sexual abusers compulsorily castrated.

Public debates erupted when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was Minister of Infrastructure and Transport in the coalition government, suggested chemical castration by Salvini. “If you are raping a woman or a child, clearly you have a problem and jail time is not enough,” Salvini said.

Salvini wants to take his proposal to chemically castrate rapists to Parliament. According to her proposal, the castration method could be applied along with a judge’s sentence against a child molester or rapist. If the violation is repeated, it will be applied automatically.

However, this proposal has been criticized by many, including Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker from the center-left Partito Demócrata (PD) party. Boldrini said the proposal would be useful in providing “political support” for Salvini, but that “cultural change” is essential to solving the problem.

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Salvini is not the first to call for forced chemical castration for sex offenders.

This is a method that was introduced for repeat offenders in Pakistan but discontinued in 2021. In Indonesia, this method is used for child molesters.

In Russia, the application of this method to pedophiles who are serving prison terms is being discussed.

In countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom, chemical castration can be applied voluntarily to mentally ill or dangerous sex offenders, and the treatment often results in reduced prison sentences.