Castration of Sex offenders

Castration of Violent Sex Offenders

When looking at the many ongoing problems in our country today, more and more often we hear of amber alerts for missing children and see on the news, horrific stories of sex offenders, and the countless reports of women and children getting raped. Even after the accessibility of the internet, the number of sex offenses has skyrocketed. The issue I am presenting is the issue of castrating serious sex offenders.

Throughout this paper, I plan to inform you of the process of how castration is administered, discuss the instances that have occurred where castration has been considered and even made into legislature, the problems that it imposes and discuss my stand point as to why I feel that castration of sex offenders is in fact wrong. I want to be clear when saying that I am not making light of serious sex offenders, I am just stating the fact that they are entitled to the same rights that ‘we all hold truth to ourselves‘.

For those of you who may be unaware of what the term castration means, the Collins dictionary defines it as the removal of a man's testicles, as a form of punishment or the ovaries of an individual; spay. There is the simple route of administration, surgery and there have been breakthroughs in chemical administration of castration. One chemical created, Depo-Provera (Medroxyprogesterone acetate) has been studied on rats to ‘castrate’. In 1996, California was the first state to pass a requirement for castration of second time offenders, or for the molestation of any child under the age of thirteen (Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, Wisconsin and Texas later followed California’s bill). Also, the individual convicted is given the choice between surgery and chemical castration. If the individual decides to take the chemical route, he is to undergo the medroxyprogesterone acetate therapy one week before his or her release date. Although the chemical route may seem more of a mild manner for the situation, a lot of issues are created within the Due Process Clause (all rights must be applied to everyone) and the Equal Protection Clause (equal application of laws despite race or gender) to the Fourteenth Amendment.

The drug Depo-Provera, used in chemical castration, is used to treat cancer and is also used as a form of birth control. Depo affects men and women in different ways. It eliminates a males sex drive (which is returned after treatment) but does not affect their ability to procreate. In females, it has no effect on a women’s sex drive, but temporarily prohibits them from being able to procreate. Thus showing its inability to maintain its goal.

Over the years there have been several attempts in ordering one to be ‘castrated’ .or ‘sterilized’ for being convicted of serious sex offenses. A group of U.S. legal experts stated in the