Bangkok, Thailand
The Bangkok Post reported that the Thai Senate passed the bill allowing the chemical castration for sex offenders.
With just two abstentions, the bill received the support of 145 senators and now needs to be approved by the house for receiving the royal endorsement.
According to corrections department figures, there were 4,848 who re-offended out of the 16,413 convicted sex offenders released from Thai prisons between 2013 and 2020.
In return for shorter jail time, certain sex offenders deemed at risk of re-offending may be given the option to receive injections that reduce their testosterone levels under the bill.
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According to the bill, the offenders would be monitored for 10 years and be required to wear electronic monitoring bracelets.
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said, ''I want this law to pass quickly. I don't want to see news about bad things happening to women again.''
Highlighting that the use of chemical castration would not tackle sex crime, Jaded Chouwilai, director of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, a non-governmental organisation that addresses sexual violence, said, "Convicts should be rehabilitated by changing their mindset while in prison."
"To use punishment like execution or injected castration reinforces the idea that offenders can no longer be rehabilitated," he added.
Currently, the use of chemical castration is only legal in Poland, South Korea, Russia, Estonia, and some states of the US.
(With inputs from agencies)
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