CASTRATE THEM

INDEPENDENT Senator Varma Deyalsingh yesterday said castration should be used as a deterrent to sexual offenders. Deyalsingh made this call during a Special Select Committee (SSC) public hearing on the Sexual Offenders Amendment Bill 2019 at Tower D, Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre. He made it clear he was "talking about chemical castration."

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said there is a viral video and people are recommending that "TT should take an African approach to sex offenders recommendation for public management." In response, Deyalsingh said, "I am a proponent for castration."

Al-Rawi quickly replied, "I was saying that certain African jurisdictions are now currently in the media for having taken a draconian step." He added, "In this capacity, I am not permitted to give my personal views."

Referring to Acting Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews' suggestion yesterday at the same hearing, that the passports of sexual offenders be revoked, Deyalsingh said, "Medically, sometimes you have a paedophile." He opined these people "may never get back their passports."

Deyalsingh said chemical castration could be the solution to these people's dilemma. He said there are "certain individuals who we can give an injection for (to deal with) that sex drive." Deyalsingh said the injection is an anti-testosterone.

Once given that injection, he said these people will "still be able to provide the earnings for that home as a breadwinner." With the prisons being overcrowded, Deyalsingh said chemical castration could reduce the recidivism rate from 50 to five per cent.

He also suggested that a sexual offender have a stamp put on his/her driver's permit. He said this would make the local population more aware of who sexual offenders are, should they apply for jobs in places such as schools.

Instead of castration, Al-Rawi said Government is moving to allow access to information from passports "to be connected to other areas." He disclosed that "Board of Inland Revenue, marriage certificates, convictions...all are coming into one pot."

Al-Rawi said soon, the pin number on a person's birth certificate will become "an essential number" similar to social security numbers in the US. "We are at the cusp of changing data connectivity in this country in a significant way."

Al-Rawi said this will lead to situations where as soon as someone buys an airline ticket and it is booked, "the advanced information runs out." He said this was in line with Gandhi-Andrews' statements about identifying sexual offenders by electronically pre-checking passengers before they come to TT.

Al-Rawi said the lead time for investigations of potential criminal offenders will be "significantly larger." He added all of this "will become public soon" once all the elements lock into place."

WHAT IS CHEMICAL CASTRATION

According to data sourced online, chemical castration is defined as castration done through anaphrodisiac drugs. Surgical castration involves removal of the gonads through an incision in the body. Chemical castration does not remove organs. When used on men, these drugs can reduce sex drive, compulsive sexual fantasies and capacity for sexual arousal. Life-threatening side effects are rare.

When used in women, the effects are similar, but there is little research about chemically lowering women's sex drive or female-specific anaphrodisiacs. The first use of chemical castration was in 1944, when diethylstilbestrol was used to lower men's testosterone.

The antipsychotic agent benperidol is sometimes used to diminish sexual urges in people who display inappropriate sexual behaviour. Deyalsingh said chemical castration is the law in US states such as California and Florida.

Chemical castration has been performed on sex offenders in Argentina, Poland, United Kingdom, Moldova, Estonia and Israel. There are calls in South Africa, Kenya and Macedonia for chemical castration to be made law. After the gang rape of a woman in New Delhi in 2012, the Indian government has been considering legislation with chemical castration and imprisonment for up to 30 years for rape convicts.