Child Molestation: Indonesia Insists On ‘Chemical Castration’ For Sex Offenders

Recall that the government of Indonesia had, earlier in the month, passed new laws which include chemical castration, minimum sentences, and possible execution for paedophiles after a 14-year-old girl was raped and murdered on her way from school in April 2016.

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, told BBC’s Yalda Hakim that though his government respects human rights, his administration would not “compromise” its efforts to tackle sexual crimes.

“We are strong and we have to be very firm. We will hand out the maximum penalty for sexual crimes. This will not be compromised,” he said.

Asked if he thinks sexual castration would deter sex offenders, Widodo said: “In my opinion… chemical castration, if we enforce it consistently, will reduce sex crimes and wipe them out over time.”

The new development has, however, received condemnation from the Indonesian Doctors Association after Dr. Prijo Sidipratomo, chairman of the medical ethics committee of the association, said the government cannot end child molestation by chemical castration.

“You cannot cure paedophilia by chemical castration,” Sidipratomo said.

“How long can it last? Let’s say the patient has it for three years while in jail. But after his release he can go to a doctor and reverse it with hormone therapy. Chemical castration is not completely irreversible, so it is not effective.

“Furthermore, the punishment cannot be done as long as the executor is a medical doctor, because we have to uphold medical ethics. When you become a doctor, you have to swear that you won’t do anything harmful to any human being.

“My message to all doctors across Indonesia is that as long as you’re a doctor, you cannot do it, even if the government says it is to punish a rapist.

“It is harmful and it’s against human rights,” Sidipratomo added.

But President Widodo further insisted on going ahead with the punishment by getting military doctors to do it.

“That’s fine if doctors don’t want to do it. We can use other doctors. We could use military doctors. There are lots of people who want to do it. That’s not a problem,” he said.