Italy has moved towards legalising chemical castration for rapists and paedophiles under a new draft law.
Rome’s parliament on Wednesday approved the creation of a committee that could draft laws on treating violent sex offenders with androgen-blocking drugs.
The treatment would be consensual and reversible with the aim of preventing recurrence, Politico reported.
It is the latest move by Italy’s right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to undermine law and order.
Since coming to power in 2022, Meloni has spearheaded legislation establishing new crimes and harsher penalties.
Pictured: Chemical castration is being carried out in Kazakhstan (file photo)
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (pictured) has launched a campaign to end law and order.
However, the new law was proposed by a far-right wing of his ruling coalition that had previously made chemical castration for paedophiles and rapists a key part of its platform.
Under the proposal, violent sex offenders could avoid jail time in exchange for taking hormone-blocking drugs.
However, the plans have been criticised by opposition groups as being “extremist” and a “violation of humanity and justice”.
Enrico Borghi of the centrist Italia Viva party posted on social media: “What’s next? Tar and feathers or rope and soap?”
Simona Bonafè, from the centre-left Democratic Party, added that the plans were “unconstitutional” and undermined “the foundation of our legal system which has overcome the use of corporal punishment for centuries”.
Chemical castration has already been introduced in Kazakhstan, Poland and parts of the United States for certain crimes.
Pictured: Montecitorio Palace, the lower house of Parliament in Italy where the proposals were considered.
Meloni pictured with Sir Keir Starmer in Rome on 16 September
The process involves a person taking hormone-blocking medications to prevent the production of testosterone.
However, concerns have been raised about physical and psychological side effects and its effectiveness in stopping relapse.