Labour is promising to cut crime by enforcing compulsory treatment of convicted sex offenders to reduce reoffending and free up space in jail. The announcement, made on Wednesday, May 19th, saw under-fire Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood react to what she sees as public demand and—cynics might say—reach out to the traditionalist voters currently deserting her party in droves.
Under the proposals, a pilot scheme started in south-west England would be expanded, followed by a national rollout of voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders. One aim would also be to explore whether it could be made mandatory across the criminal justice system.
The thinking behind the programme is to target sex offenders whose proclivities appear involuntary with suppressant drugs. Mahmood treats such people as a “subset of offenders” eligible for the treatment. (Hopefully criminals won’t use the idea that they can’t help themselves as a successful defence in court.)
Some commentators have responded to the news by digging deeper, noting that the process “also includes early release of violent offenders and rapists (less popular I imagine),” or that the underlying science is unsound. Former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor stated:
I am appalled & dismayed that the government is toying with chemical castration for sexual offenders—a policy as irreversible as it is medieval.
In an age where false accusations are so prevalent & destroy lives, should we now sanction irreversible punishments based on fallible judgments?
As part of Operation Midland, a deeply flawed police campaign inspired by convicted paedophile and fantasist Carl Beech, Proctor himself was falsely accused of the most heinous crimes against children.
While the beleaguered Justice Secretary aims to talk tough on crime, the implications of this technocratic proposal require more thought and deliberation. Every £50 (€60) note in UK currency carries the image of Alan Turing, the homosexual computer scientist subjected to this form of punishment in 1952, linking it in the public mind with the potential for injustice today.
