Italy opens door to chemical castration for rapists and pedophiles

ROME — Italy moved on Wednesday toward legalizing chemical castration, with MPs approving the creation of a committee that could draft laws on treating violent sex offenders with androgen-blocking drugs.

The lower house of parliament in Rome passed a motion which said the treatment should be consensual, reversible and with the aim of reducing the risk of re-offending. It has committed the government to establishing the relevant committee.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing administration is attempting to look tough on law and order. Since it came to power in 2022, her government has introduced legislation establishing dozens of new crimes and increased penalties.

Meloni has spearheaded the redevelopment of Caivano, a disadvantaged town on the edge of Naples, which became a symbol of criminality and deprivation after the gang rape of two preteen cousins, which five people were convicted over. Meloni said earlier this month that security was her “priority” for the next few months.

The far-right League, part of Meloni’s governing coalition and which has made establishing a law on chemical castration for pedophiles and rapists a key part of its platform, put forward the motion. Under the League’s proposals convicted sex offenders could receive a suspended sentence in exchange for undergoing hormone blocking treatment.

League chief Matteo Salvini welcomed the news, writing on X: “Victory for the League! … Good. Another important step forward for our historic battle for justice and common sense: zero tolerance for rapists and pedophiles.”

But opposition groups called the proposals “extremist” and “in violation of humanity and justice.”

MP Simona Bonafè of the opposition center-left Democratic Party said the League’s proposal was  “unconstitutional … undermining the foundation of our legal system that has overcome the use of corporal punishment for centuries.”

The Green and Left Alliance criticized the League’s “endless vocation for repression.”

Enrico Borghi from the centrist Italia Viva party wrote on social media, “What’s next? Tar and feathers, or rope and soap?”

Chemical castration consists of the administration of drugs that inhibit the release of hormones that stimulate the testicles to produce testosterone, thus decreasing libido.

Mandatory chemical castration is permitted in Russia and Poland and some U.S. states for certain crimes. But there are also doubts about its effectiveness in preventing re-offending and experts say it can have physical and psychological side effects. Feminist groups have warned that the reasons behind violent sex crimes such as rape are not unstoppable sexual urges, but cultural factors.

The current Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio opposed similar proposals in 2019 before entering government, saying they were “a return to medieval times.”