Sex offenders are microchiped in Indonesia

Sex offences are the most dreadful acts in the human society. Especially in the case the victims are children, hatred of concerned people is incalculable. Also, sex crimes for children are likely to be repeated by offenders who have pedophilia. Therefore, governments are engaged to decrease the risk of recidivism of such perpetrators.

In Indonesia, new legislation is going to be enforced. Offenders who were sentenced to sexual abuse to children will be chemically castrated and microchipped, if the bill is realized. They are also incarcerated for the longer term.

Independent: Indonesia could pass law that sees paedophiles castrated and microchipped

This bill seems aggressive. But similar attempts have been conducted in some countries. In some states in the US, sex offenders are made their face exposed to the public so that parents of young children can easily identify them. They are forced to attach an anklet to their leg in which a GPS is equipped. The purpose is to track them every time. In the US, shortage of prisons is a chronically serious problem. Therefore, a considerable number of criminals are released before adequate intervention for preventing recidivism is performed. GPS is one of an alternative restriction for criminals who have a certain risk of reoffending.

In the UK, hospitalized offenders with mental disorders are permitted to temporal leave with attaching a GPS anklet. It is deemed as an attempt to shorten the duration of hospitalization. Patients with remitted symptoms and lowered risk of desertion have to prepare for the life in the community. They have temporal leaves for some times before discharge. But it is difficult to estimate the risk of escape in some cases. Patients accepting a GPS anklet are more likely to be permitted to early temporal leave. This system is beneficial for both the patients and administrators.

In Indonesia, the microchip will be adopted to track the offenders. It will lead an issue of clinical safety in addition to ethical concern. I think the risk that a microchip in the body will cause serious trouble to the offender’s health. Nonetheless, the government has to guarantee not to let this operation any harm to the offenders.

Chemical castration is another point of argument. In the US and other countries, this treatment has been realized. Unfortunately, I have no idea about the effectiveness of anti-androgen therapy. Reports regarding the level of testosterone in sex offenders are controversial with each other. Also, the hormonergic factor is not the only drive for sexual offending. I think the impact of implementation of castration, chemically or physically, on sex offences is limited.

Pubmed: Do Sex Offenders Have Higher Levels of Testosterone? Results From a Meta-Analysis.

In Japan, the crime rate is still low compared to other countries. But there is a discussion about this kind of matter. Deliberate and scientific consideration is needed.