Forced Castration for Pedophiles to Become Law in South Korea

[unreal.livejournal.com]

South Korea was poised Wednesday to become the first Asian country to use chemical castration on child sex offenders.

A bill prescribing the hormonal neutralization of testosterone in “sexual deviants” aged 19 or over was passed Tuesday in the National Assembly by 137 votes to 13, which President Lee Myung-bak was expected to sign into law when he returns from abroad.

Members of Parliament also voted to introduce the measure of removing offenders’ testosterone -- officially described during court sentencing as a medical treatment -- supposedly designed to “remove any negative connotations” inherent in the term castration.

The original version of the bill was introduced two years ago after a 58-year-old man raped and assaulted an eight-year-old girl, leaving her permanently disfigured. Public outrage triggered increased security measures at schools and the installation of CCTV cameras in playgrounds and prompted impassioned pleas for tougher laws and harsher punishments.

There were concerns about the effectiveness or safety of the treatment, and pressure to pass it waned until the government was embarrassed by a renewed spate of attacks this year.

Last week, a repeat sex offender aged 44 was charged with kidnapping an eight-year-old from her classroom and raping her, and an investigation began at the weekend into the case of a Vietnamese girl snatched from a street during the day and raped.

South Korea already imposes fierce legal punishments. Last week a 33-year-old man was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the February rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl.

Louisiana two years ago gave judges the right to order drug treatments to eliminate the sex drive of offenders convicted of a range of crimes, including forcible rape and aggravated incest.

source: myfoxchicago

Comments

[chiddle.livejournal.com]

South Korea was poised Wednesday to become the first Asian country to use chemical castration on child sex offenders.


sorry i lold

[desty-chan.livejournal.com]

This is incredible. I don't really know how to feel about this :/

[nishiio.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure.

I guess it's good that they're doing something about it but this seems sort of strange.

It prevents them from sexually assaulting people but it doesn't prevent them from murdering...

[chrismakkuh.livejournal.com]

This.

It feels like the real problem isn't being handled.

I mean, as bad as it seems, rape using genitals isn't the only form of rape...

or the fact that all this is a mental illness. To think castration is gonna solve the problem...it feels like it'll just manifest into something else... maybe something worse.

castrate them all

[kishikiari.livejournal.com]

(http://pt-br.tinypic.com)

Re: castrate them all

[jaemin0.livejournal.com]

junseung <3

[jinsane226.livejournal.com]

O_O
I remember seeing the whole thing about chemical castrations while watching Law & Order:SVU

This is....
well I dunno actually
I can't say I don't disagree with it

[captainmarvel.livejournal.com]

I learned about if from Law & Order: SVU too XD

[xx-me-myself-i.livejournal.com]

South Korea needs to stop debuting idols at age 12 then.

[needsm0retime.livejournal.com]

yep - pretty much this. I like kids like Minzy and all but damn, she's too young to work it like she does...

[loverboy.livejournal.com]

Um no. This doesn't solve anything.

And chemical castration is a very misleading name. It's just a drug. But still. NO KOREA. BAD KOREA.

[ur-a-funny-1.livejournal.com]

Totally agree with you there. Even ignoring the question of whether the law is humane/whether it actually works when most pedophiles have a mental illness which doesn't go away with only punishment/etc.

WHAT ABOUT THE PPL WHO ARE WRONGLY CONVICTED??????

this is exactly why i disagree with the death penalty and any other kind of penalty which is permanent like that.

i'm sorry to say, but the judicial system of having a jury of your peers decide on your fate is really VERY flawed, and everyone knows any really GOOD lawyer worth his salt can win their case.

and think about it. if you've ever worked in any kind of customer service job, then you know people are biased, rude and very judgemental when dealing with people they don't know personally and who they think are in the wrong. just look at all the comments on this page!

has no one watched heading to the ground with Yunho?? huh? or seen the green mile with Tom Hanks??

how is it right to do this to people when, in general, there's a big chance they could have been framed/wrongly convicted?

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

Wow. I dunno how to feel about this. One part of me is cheering immensely, "FINALLY YES GO KOREA!" and the other side of me is disgusted at the blatant infringement of individual rights.

Castration or imprisonment won't stop the creation of pedophiles. What I think is important is not to demonize this mental condition and allow a forum of communication that would grant these people psychiatric help before the "spiral of abuse" begins. There really isn't a way to mentally help these people until they actually go to prison (in the case of the U.S. and Canada), and I think that's a bit unfair, because I'm certain they don't exactly know how to deal with themselves.

These are people who need help, and to demonize this illness is not helping, especially in keeping down the level of child rape.

It's basically like trying to lobotomize a person with schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder. It's a mental illness that harms people and the individuals themselves, but it's still important to treat these people humanely and to get them help and rehabilitation.

[bambayahh.livejournal.com]

AMEN.

[awesomeful.livejournal.com]

I'm glad they're trying to do something about it, but... I'm not sure this is going to be that helpful. :/

[black-silver.livejournal.com]

...whoa. O__O

[eternityras.livejournal.com]

i approve.

[silver-might.livejournal.com]

so basically it's telling the rapists to get their fix and make sure they don't get caught. -_-

This really isn't solving anything. Especially if students are being kidnapped out of their classrooms. That suggests that they need better security measures at school.

[theycallmeriz.livejournal.com]

WHOA. Who got kidnapped out of their classroom? :O
How is that even possible, where in the hell was everyone else? >:@

Btw, the RAGE!face wasn't to you, it was to the STUPID people in the classroom.

[zenfu.livejournal.com]

Right. Because it's impossible to molest, rape or kill if you can't get your dick hard.

[alex-haruko.livejournal.com]

You're right on that one, I mean, we can't forget that not only men rape, women do it too and a lot of the rapists have dysfunctional problems so they use other instruments to rape, like this man from Colombia that raped kids with a knife, ughhh I get goosebumps just remembering it D:

[booksandsarcasm.livejournal.com]

Uh... actually, I'm fairly certain that it does have to do with sexual desire for children. O___O If it is a power thing (like in the case of serial killers, etc.) it still is sexual because that power over someone else is what gets them off.

[ayumikoshiro.livejournal.com]

I think it's a great step in the right direction. Ok that's really just the human side of me, because I find this crime abominable. I know that this probably will not change anything, because often pedophilia isn't just about sexual attraction. Maybe it will help for some offenders but the worst of the worst will still kidnap, rape, and/or maim children because this disease goes deeper. Honestly, I don't know how to solve this problem but kudos S. Korea for trying to do something long term other than putting them on a list that half the country doesn't even check.

[alex-haruko.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[tsuyogari.livejournal.com]

ummmm, i want to be all "go korea!!" but everything about this is all wrong.

[sayuai.livejournal.com]

lol...I think the exact same way. OMG I shouldn't be loling but this post just got me so flustered...O.O

[jia-zhang.livejournal.com]

What laws like this incite will just be child-murders, because pedophiles wouldn't want the risk of living victims. I don't understand why they are making such a rash decision so quickly.

This is a subject I know quite well about, and most pedophiles do want rehabilitation (I can't speak for the sociopathical ones). They want help, they just can't get it. And like unchecked schizophrenia, these people are just allowed to deteriorate. I hate pedophilia most of all, but I can't agree with this. It's just a bad idea waiting to explode in their faces.

[babydollnana.livejournal.com]

you make good points

hopefully this post will have some interesting discussion in the comments

[renai21.livejournal.com]

.___. I can say I strongly disagree with this, but at the same time I wonder if it really helps.

[renai21.livejournal.com]

I meaned can't instead of can btw

[thenylonkid.livejournal.com]

oh god

[taecish.livejournal.com]

well shit I guess I better jump off the dongho fanwagon right now then

[hyunkyu11.livejournal.com]

my Korean friend told me about the kidnapping. He said that after that, he doesn't think Korea is safe anymore. :((((((((

As much as I want to support an action against stopping pedophiles from raping and/or murdering our children, idk if this is the right action, although I do applaud Korea for deciding to take action This action can only be taken if they find and are able to convict a rapist/pedophile. By then the crime has already happened.

I suppose the fear of this punishment is going to keep the rape crimes low for a while, but not for long. The need of sexual gratification is far too strong in humans. Pedophiles are just going to find a new way to be more careful and not get caught.

I want a way to stop this crime from EVER happening in the first place. :/

[thenylonkid.livejournal.com]

"By then the crime has already happened."
Seriously.

[liu-zhoucheng.livejournal.com]

That's not going to help :\

[sabaku-no-leti.livejournal.com]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse

Estimated rates of recidivism among child sex offenders vary. One study found that 42% of offenders re-offended (either a sex crime, violent crime, or both) after they were released. Risk for re-offense was highest in the first 6 years after release, but continued to be significant even 10–31 years later, with 23% offending during this time. A study done in California in 1965 found a 18.2% recidivism rate for offenders targeting the opposite sex and a 34.5% recidivism rate for same-sex offenders after 5 years.

I still don't know how to feel about this, but recidivism is very high so this may help?

[adliboverplay.livejournal.com]

well i think korea knows that this the chemical castration isn't a solution, but they've done quite a bit. yet, there doesn't seem to be much progress to deter pedophiles. for them, this prob seems like one of the most viable one for prevention. yes, it wont help those with the psychology illness much, but in my opinion, the most urgent and important point would be to do as much as it is possible to make sure these kids are SAFE.

combating mental illnesses takes ages, and while helping these pedophiles cure it, i believe more kids will continue to be victims. so im just saying, yes, i agree to the usage of chemical castration. and when some of the comments state that we are demonizing the illness, are you sanctifying it? i think these days, there are more and more people using the shield of mental illnesses just to hide behind the atrocities that they were fully aware of committing and that what they were doing was wrong and immoral.

but then again, this is just my opinion

[cher-ex3.livejournal.com]

And I agree with it completely.

[pon-pon-pink.livejournal.com]

i approve~