Reuters :
Britain is considering mandating the use of chemical castration for sex offenders under an overhaul of the justice system aimed at freeing up more space in its overcrowded prisons.
One of the first acts of the Labour government in July was to announce plans to release more prisoners early to tackle a crisis of overcrowding in jails which ministers said threatened a “total breakdown of law and order.”
The prison population in England and Wales then reached a record high in September, and earlier this year the government said police cells would be used temporarily to hold prisoners as an emergency stopgap measure to cope with overcrowding in prison.
Announcing the findings of a review into how to tackle the crisis, Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood said it had recommended continuing a pilot of so-called “medication to manage problematic sexual arousal.”
“I am exploring whether mandating the approach is possible,” she told lawmakers.
Options include pharmaceuticals that suppress libido and those that reduce sexual thoughts, the review said.
The Independent Sentencing Review said there was an overreliance on custody, and that more should be invested in the Probation Service, with greater electronic monitoring and a supervision system to reduce reoffending.
