The President of Kazakhstan has authorized officials to chemically castrate over 2,000 convicted pedophiles in an attempt to curb the child rape epidemic sweeping the country.
A Turkestan child rapist, whose identity remains anonymous, will be the first to receive the injection under the supervision of Kazakhstan’s health ministry, Yahoo News reports.
Newsweek.com reports: The country’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev has allocated $37,000 (RM111,735) to fund around 2,000 castrations. “At the moment there has been one request for chemical castration in accordance with a court ruling,” Lyazat Aktayeva, the Kazakhstan’s deputy health minister, said. “Funds have been allocated for more than 2000 injections.”
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Earlier this year, the country passed a new law allowing for chemical castrations. At the time, Senator Byranym Aitimova revealed that the “temporary” castration will come in the form of a “one-time injection.” The treatment is intended to prevent an offender from committing sexual violence.
Most chemical castrations do not last a lifetime and are considered to be reversible. The drug, Cyproterone, is an steroidal anti-androgen that was originally created for cancer patients.
When administered through injection, it will dramatically reduce a person’s sex drive and libido but effects to dull sexual urges could wear off in time, reported News.com.au. Critics have warned that the procedure is not guaranteed to prevent repeated sexual assaults.
The castrations in Kazakhstan will be executed at regional psychoneurological clinics across the country.
Kazakhstan has reportedly experienced a dramatic rise in sexual crimes committed against children over the past few years. Between 2010 and 2014, underage rapes doubled to around 1000 per year.
Chemical castrations have been used in several countries around the world – including Australia, South Korea, Russia and Poland – to curb sexual offenders. Usually they are granted in exchange for lighter prison sentences.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo passed a controversial law allowing the practice to be performed on convicted pedophiles in 2016, following a high-profiled case where a 14-year-old girl was brutally gang raped and murdered.
Before the law was passed, two opposition parties objected to the notion during intensive debates in parliament.
Human rights groups have also denounced the procedure, claiming that it will not result in the intended effect.
“Other countries that have chemical castration have not seen a reduction in sexual crime against children. Also it’s a very expensive procedure and what we should be spending and investing our money in is services to support and help the victims,” Azriana, the head of the National Commission for Women, said.
