press roomI-Net Bridge, December 1999
South Africans vote on castration
A poll on the Rape Crisis website asks South Africans to give their views on chemical castration for rapists, and early replies are in favour .
The Rape Crisis organisation is currently running a poll on its website to gauge public opinion on the chemical castration of rapists. As you log on to the site, a pop-up box appears, asking the user to tick whether they agree, disagree or are undecided. The poll appears to attempt to gear the user towards disagreeing, and clearly states at the top that the organisation is against castration, but the opposite appears to have happened.
According to the quiz results, of the 20 people that have responded, 55% agree with castration, 15% are opposed to it and 30% are undecided.
Rape Crisis itself states that it is opposed to any form of castration. The organisation says that, aside from the human rights issues, they are not convinced that castration would deter rapists. "What we know of rape as a crime of violence and control mitigates against the notion that chemical castration would either stop rape happening or deter potential rapists," the website states.
In addition, they say, the chemical injection is effective only for a maximum of three months, and the administration of the drugs would therefore have to be an ongoing process. Furthermore, South Africa has a low rape conviction rate. The injection would therefore only be given to a small minority of rapists.
The organisation feels that, with the limited resources available in the country, "these would be better spent on the implementation and monitoring of legislation, on the training of relevant medical and legal professionals who interface with rape survivors, on the provision of adequate facilities for rape survivors at police stations and hospitals, and on increasing our low conviction rate in rape cases (currently around 5% to 7%)".
No mention is made of the human rights issues surrounding castration. In October, Inkatha Freedom Party MP Suzanne Vos suggested to Parliament that the government get "creative" about punishment for sexual offenders and proposed that chemical castration be considered.
"Why aren't we seriously exploring sentencing the testosterone-overloaded criminal classes - that we do manage by some miracle to capture, judge and sentence - to chemical castration?" Vos asked in an interpellation debate in the National Assembly. She said scientific studies suggested that injecting rapists and child molesters with hormone treatment could work in conjunction with other therapy.
Studies in Denmark and Switzerland had shown that voluntary chemical castration reduced repeated rapes from 50% or higher to less than 10%. In reply to the debate, Deputy President Jacob Zuma's office said that no proposal for castration had been tabled for consideration. Zuma said, however, that the South African Law Commission (SALC) was investigating the viability of chemical castration for repeat offenders, and that the government would study its report.
"One of the issues the commission is investigating is the human rights implications and feasibility of chemically castrating repeat sexual offenders," said Zuma's aide, Ronnie Mamoepa. The SALC, he said, was investigating harsher sentences for repeat sexual offenders.
The website can be viewed on www.rapecrisis.org.za
Gina Flaxman, I-Net Bridge
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