Can 'Eunuch Law' reduce sex crimes?
This is the second in a series of articles featuring the problems Korean society faces these days, including sex crimes against children and women, alcohol-induced violence and child pornography. ― ED.
By Na Jeong-ju
A female ruling party lawmaker submitted a controversial bill on Sept. 5 to surgically castrate child rapists.
The “Eunuch Bill” was welcomed by many women and family members of rape victims, but received the cold shoulder from experts and even her colleagues in the same party.
Critics say such an extreme measure can’t be accepted in a democratic society, nor can it be a fundamental solution in tackling surging sex offenses against minors.
The lawmaker, Park In-sook of the Saenuri Party, counters that they have a double standard on dealing with the issue.
“The government has already decided to expand the use of chemical castration on sex crime convicts to prevent them from repeating offenses. It costs a lot of taxpayers’ money and is ineffective,” Park said in an interview.
“Removing their testicles is the quickest, most cost-effective and fundamental method. We should understand the feelings of the raped children and their family members. There should be no leniency for the perpetrators.”
She recalled the case of a seven-year-old schoolgirl whose internal and genital organs were seriously damaged after being raped by Ko Jong-seok, a 23-year-old child porn addict, in Naju, South Jeolla Province, on Aug. 30.
She said physical castration is not harsh at all for rapists like Ko because they have ruined the lives of children as well as their parents.
“Living without testicles is less painful than living with nightmarish memories for their whole life,” the cardiologist-turned-lawmaker said. “Of course, it should be conducted on very limited cases under very strict rules.”
Her proposal has triggered a backlash from human rights activists. Some opposition lawmakers labeled it as a populist idea amid public uproar over a series of brutal crimes against minors and women.
Park’s bill is still a hotly-debated online issue.
A blogger who identified himself as the father of a middle school student, who was raped at age 10, said he supports Park.
“I don’t agree with experts who attribute rising cases of sex offenses to structural problems in society and demand better psychological therapies and rehabilitation programs for rapists instead of strengthening punishment. That’s because they have never experienced the sufferings and pains that I did,” he said. “It will remain a painful memory even if I kill the man who raped my daughter.”
He said he would work with family members of other victims to urge the National Assembly to pass Park’s bill.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, physical castration is one of the ideas that is repeatedly suggested whenever heinous sex crimes make the headlines.
“But there has never been any serious debate on it because most people regard it as being inappropriate in a civilized society in the 21st century. It could also violate basic human rights,” a spokesman said, asking not to be named.
Park’s bill wasn’t even welcomed in her own party. Saenuri Party Chairman Hwang Woo-yea indicated last week that he wouldn’t support the measure, saying it could violate constitutional values and harm the country’s international reputation.
Irresponsible politics?
What are the best solutions, then?
The government has announced a package of countermeasures.
The prosecution plans to demand much heavier jail terms for child rapists. Police have also launched a crackdown on peer-to-peer file-sharing websites and Internet servers, believed to be the main distribution channels of child pornography.
The ministry is pushing for a law revision to increase the minimum penalty for a rapist from the current five years in jail to 10 years. Those who produce, distribute or possess child pornography will also face up to 10 years in jail _ the current maximum penalty for such offenders is a fine of 20 million won.
It also plans to increase spending on taking care of rape victims and their family members.
Critics, however, say such makeshift methods could be counter-productive in dealing with sex crimes against children.
“The government has taken strong punitive measures to prevent crimes, but one of the side-effects is that it makes offenders more violent and anti-social,” said Ahn Jin-sook, a researcher at the Welfare State Society, a Seoul-based civic group.
She called Rep. Park’s bill on castration another example of “irresponsible politics.”
“The government began using electronic anklets from 2008 and implemented chemical castration in 2011 to tackle sex crimes. Despite such measures, the situation is worsening now,” Ahn said. “Physical castration won’t be effective, either. They are only focusing on isolating sex offenders from society.”
She cited the case of Suh Jin-hwan, who allegedly stabbed a housewife to death in eastern Seoul on Aug. 20 after his attempt to rape her failed. The 42-year-old ex-convict was wearing an electronic anklet at the time.
Under the current law, those who sexually abuse children aged 13 or younger and repeat offenders must wear the anklets. They are subject to chemical castration if they are deemed to have the potential to repeat similar offenses.
According to Ahn, violent crimes are mostly committed by those left out of competition at schools and workplaces. It’s a social responsibility to embrace them by offering specialized programs to prevent them from becoming criminals, she said.
“Most sex offenders have feelings of frustration and alienation that result from their complaints and grudges toward society,” she said. “They vent the anger when they are under the influence of alcohol or become emotional.”
“Many countries are providing psychological therapy and counseling services to sex criminals, while maintaining strong punishment for those who repeat crimes. However, Korea tends to resort to only makeshift measures,” she added.