PFP Legislator Shen Chih-hwei's (
Chemical castration temporarily reduces sexual desire through chemicals that can be injected or taken orally. Shen's proposal is to permanently castrate the rapists.
In addition, Shen has also proposed making rapists' names public in an equivalent to Megan's Law in the US.
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.
According to Shen, chemical castration is currently used for rapists in Australia, Denmark and Germany. But local doctors say chemical castration will damage a person's health and may not be the best solution.
"To chemically castrate someone, usually we inject female hormones into the person or ask him to take female hormone pills. The side effect is that the person will begin to develop female sex attributes. For example, his breasts will begin to grow," Yin Shu-tien Memorial Hospital urologist Chang Ke-fu (張克孚) explained. "But chemical castration will not be able to cure a rapist's mental problems."
In the meantime, Chen Chiao-chicy (
Chen said there is no 100-percent guarantee that a rapist can be completed "cured."
As a result, he said, making their names public so the public can be aware of them is an effective prevention measure, even if it's still controversial in regards to human rights.
Hsu Wen-de (許文德), a gynecologist and senior counselor at the National Health Research Institute, said in an article that was published on LawTW.com that he didn't think chemical castration can solve the problem.
He said that chemical castration can only be regarded as a "physical cure." But if rapists are just "physically cured" and made unable to become erect without being "mentally cured", it is still quite possible for these rapists to sexually attack women again, he said.
"Chemical castration can only temporarily control rapists. Once the medical treatment is stopped, the patients are likely to rape women again. It's not a permanent solution," Hsu said in the article.
In his article, Hsu recommended the US program called the "Vermont Treatment Program for Sexual Aggressors."
According to Hsu, the program was first named after the state of Vermont because it was first carried out there in 1982. Under the program, rapists are regarded as "sex addicts" and are forced to join a rehabilitation program.
During the program, social workers and psychologists will find out exactly why rapists want to sexually assault women. They then teach these rapists how to face the temptation to and how to control themselves.
When the rehabilitation program is done, these rapists will have learned how to keep themselves from committing crimes again.
DPP Lawmaker Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津), who endorsed Shen's proposal, argues that a strict standard should be defined before applying chemical castration.
"Chemical castration should not be carried out for all rapists," Yeh said. "Personally, I think that chemical castration should only be used for those rapists who cannot control themselves or beat the temptation to rape women."
Yeh's reasoning is that these people know it's not right to rape women but they just can't control themselves. Yeh thinks, basically, they're physically sick, but mentally okay. As a result, these rapists should be the priority when it comes to chemical castration.
"Of course, those who are eligible for chemical castration should be evaluated by experts first," she added.
In the meantime, Yeh emphasized that counseling should be the top priority for rapists after they are put behind bars.
Yeh's remarks were echoed by The Good Shepherd Sisters Social Welfare Service Foundation president, Sister Tang Jing-lien (湯靜蓮). Tang believes that the lack of family education is the main problem and should be the priority.
Tang says that authorities should teach rapists how to improve communication, how to respect others and how to love other people instead of simply chemically castrating them.
"[Rapists] don't know how to respect women and how to love other people, because nobody told them how," Tang said.
"Obviously, these people's family education was a failure and their communication with society shut down. Maybe a lot of people look at them as though they are freaks. No wonder these people are violent."
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS