Chemical Castration is a Punishment for Sexual Violence Perpetrators: This is the Process and Its Impact

KONTAN.CO.ID – Chemical castration is one of the prosecution’s demands for the perpetrator of the rape of 13 female students in Bandung, Herry Wirawan.

In addition to chemical castration, Herry Wirawan was also demanded the death penalty by the public prosecutor at a trial at the District Court, Tuesday (11/1/2022).

Quoted from Kompas.com (12/1/2022), the demand for chemical castration is considered to have a deterrent effect and suppress the occurrence of similar crimes in the future.

President Joko Widodo signed the chemical castration sentence in Government Regulation (PP) Number 70 of 2020 concerning Procedures for Implementing Chemical Castration, Installation of Electronic Detection Devices, Rehabilitation, and Announcement of the Identity of Perpetrators of Sexual Violence against Children on December 7, 2020.

So, what is chemical castration and the details of the punishment?

Also Read: Perform sexual violence against children, here are the punishments for the perpetrators

What is chemical castration?

Chemical castration is the administration of chemicals through injection or other methods.

Chemical castration is carried out on perpetrators who have been convicted of committing violence or threats of violence forcing children to have intercourse with them or with other people, resulting in more than one victim.

Also, these actions can result in serious injuries, mental disorders, infectious diseases, impaired or loss of reproductive function, and/or the victim dies, to suppress excessive sexual desire, which is accompanied by rehabilitation.

This is the definition of chemical castration according to PP No. 70 of 2020. Chemical castration is carried out through the stages of clinical assessment, conclusion, and implementation.

Also Read: ​What is chemical castration for perpetrators of sexual violence against children?

Clinical assessment in chemical castration is clinical and psychiatric interviews, physical examination, and supporting examinations. This clinical assessment is carried out by officers who have competence in the medical and psychiatry fields.

While the conclusion in the chemical castration punishment is the result of a clinical assessment to ensure that the perpetrators of sexual intercourse are eligible or not eligible to be subjected to chemical castration.

Meanwhile, the implementation of chemical castration is carried out after the conclusion states that the perpetrators of sexual intercourse are eligible to be subjected to chemical castration. After that, the prosecutor notifies the victim or the victim’s family that chemical castration has been carried out.

Also Read: This is the punishment for perpetrators of sexual violence against children

Chemical castration process and side effects

Medically, chemical castration is an effort to reduce sexual urges, usually carried out for perpetrators of sexual violence by lowering levels of the androgen hormone, namely testosterone (T) in men.

Summarized from the website of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Gadjah Mada University, testosterone is the main hormone needed for libido / sexual desire and sexual function (sexual behavior).

Several studies have stated that higher levels of androgen hormones, especially testosterone, in sexual abusers compared to normal men who are not perpetrators of sexual violence.

Also Read: The Doctor’s Association refuses to be castrated executors

Thus, researchers began to look at the possibility of reducing the number of sexual violence by lowering testosterone levels by a certain amount in perpetrators of sexual violence.

So hopefully, the perpetrator’s sexual appetite or libido will be very low or even disappear for a while/all the time that is expected.

Drugs for chemical castration are medroxyprogesterone sets and cyproteron asetat used in America, Europe and Canada to carry out chemical castration.

Both of these drugs for chemical castration are antiandrogen hormones that act at the stage of testosterone synthesis and androgen receptors in cells. Leydig in the testes, which are responsible for the production of the hormone testosterone.

Also Read: This is the effect of chemical castration on the body

While in Article 1 PP No. 70 of 2020 does not say what chemical substances will be given for chemical castration.

In the PP it is written that chemical castration is the administration of chemical substances through injection or other methods that begin with clinical assessment by medical and psychiatric personnel. Also, chemical castration is imposed for a maximum period of 2 years.

Whatever drug is chosen for the chemical castration process, it is necessary to consider the side effects of the drug due to the suppression of testosterone levels in perpetrators of sexual violence.

The side effects of chemical castration are the emergence of several diseases such as osteoporosis, increased cholesterol and glucose levels, the emergence of coronary heart disease and impaired brain function, which are strongly associated with low levels of the hormone estrogen.

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