TAIPEI - TAIWAN is considering imposing chemical castration in a
bid to stem sex crimes by repeat offenders, senior minister said on
Wednesday.
'We call it 'chemical treatment' ... the government will
carefully handle the issue if a public consensus is reached,'
Interior Minister Jiang Yi-huah told parliament.
Personal safety issues will be on the agenda of the island's
first government-sponsored women's congress scheduled for March
2011 aimed at promoting women's rights and gender equality, he
said.
Calls for chemical castration mounted after a case of a sex
offender who allegedly molesting two girls just 17 days after being
released on parole while wearing electronic monitoring anklet,
local media said.
Another offender, convicted of sexually assaulting three girls,
reportedly admitted before his release last month after serving an
11-year jail term that he feared he would commit the crime
again.
Taiwan could become one of the few governments in Asia to
legalise chemical castration and such a move would require
parliament's approval, officials said.
-- AFP
