PFP Legislator Shen Chih-hwei (
"I'm asking for support from legislators for my proposal to chemically castrate rapists and publish their names and addresses when they are released from prison," Shen said yesterday at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
She did say, however, that she would "need to discuss with legislators the precise circumstances under which castration should be used."
According to Shen, 75,000 people have been raped nationwide this year.
She said many of the victims were raped by repeat offenders.
Shen said that according to Ministry of Justice statistics, since the beginning of this year, 3 percent of released sex offenders have committed sex offenses again, compared with 1 percent for all of last year.
Shen said the numbers show that sex offenders have only been "temporarily put behind bars"and that they are not being thoroughly rehabilitated.
She also said the ministry has found that 76 percent of sex offenders either never undergo therapy or rehabilitation while in prison, or are released before completing their rehabilitation course.
Rehabilitation programs involving psychological counselling and assistance from social workers are available to imprisoned rapists, but are rarely obligatory for first-time offenders.
"The great amount of repeating offenders is a sign that we should amend our law, since it's not good enough to protect innocent people."
In addition to chemical castration and making information about rapists available to the public, Shen also suggested ministry officials draw up tougher guidelines for parole for rapists.
"`Megan's Law' in the US is an ideal example for us," she said. "What we need is real punishment so we can make sure that these rapists won't attack other innocent women and men anymore."
"Megan's Law" was named after a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and murdered in 1994 by a paroled sex offender who had moved into her neighborhood. The legislation makes the identities and whereabouts of convicted sex offenders public after their release from prison.
Chemical castration temporarily or permanently reduces sexual desire through chemicals that can be injected or taken orally. Shen's proposal was to permanently castrate the rapists.
Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) mentioned the possibility of chemical castration for rapists at a news conference last week. He said that when he was a lawmaker, some of his colleagues have proposed the same idea, but it had been shelved because of objections from human rights groups.
Regarding Shen's proposal, Chen said that the ministry did not wish to comment at this stage but would fully cooperate with related government offices if the proposal became law.
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