British government will start prescribing medication to dampen the libido of sex offenders, as part of an overall strategy to cut reoffending and ease growing pressure on the jam-packed prison network.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood made the announcement to Parliament on Thursday after the publication of an independent review of sentencing that was prepared by former Justice Secretary David Gauke. The treatment, sometimes termed “chemical castration,” will be first implemented in 20 prisons in two regions.
Mahmood further said that the government is also looking at making the treatment mandatory. “It is important that this strategy is complemented by psychological interventions aimed at other drivers of offending, including the need to exercise power and control,” she said.
Even though the review recognized that the treatment would not work with all offenders most notably those whose offending is not sexually motivated research indicates that it can cut reoffending by as much as 60 percent.
Chemical castration was previously used voluntarily in Germany and Denmark, and compulsorily in Poland for particular groups of offenders.
The review, to bring the justice system up to date, also suggested wider reforms. These include removing prison terms of under 12 months save in exceptional circumstances like domestic violence and the increased use of tagging. Foreigners who received sentences of three years or less would be deported immediately.
Mahmood invested £700 million a year to strengthen the probation service, stressing that rehabilitation is highly reliant on proper support and monitoring.
The reforms were denounced by opposition politicians, including Conservative justice spokesman Robert Jenrick, who warned that removing short-term sentences would in effect “decriminalize” offenses such as burglary and assault.
The government also intends to build a series of prisons on a major scale to replace Victorian-era prisons which are increasingly obsolete and add space to handle the growing prison population, currently approaching 90,000.
