A sterile step

Among many of the political hot potatoes to have emerged during the pre-election fever was a proposal to practice chemical castration on recidivist pedophiles. Following an alarming incident of child rape by a convicted pedophile in Sicily, right-wing politician Gianfranco Fini launched a proposal to use chemical castration in such cases: ‘Chemical castration is not a penalty, it is a therapy Pedophilia is certainly a disease . . . it is one of the most vile and atrocious crimes’. As a result, politicians across the political spectrum have been debating the use of chemical castration as a treatment for violent sex offenders. Although Democratic Party leader Walter Veltroni has called for tougher penalties for sex crimes, he has dismissed the use of chemical castration as a therapy due to the lack of evidence to prove its ‘effectiveness’.