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ollowing mounting pressure to apply harsher penalties on child sex offenders, the government has given the green light to apply chemical castration on perpetrators in an effort to combat and prevent heinous crimes against children.

Attorney General M. Prasetyo said President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo had agreed that additional punishment was needed to generate a deterrent effect, and that chemical castration would hopefully act as an effective solution.

'€œThis [chemical castration] is a potential breakthrough that we hope could lead to a positive change for child protection,'€ he said Tuesday night as quoted by the Cabinet'€™s official website, setkab.go.id.

Prasetyo went on to say that because revision of the law to include the additional punishment would take years to pass, the President was considering issuing a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to prop up the chemical castration punishment.

Unlike surgical castration, chemical castration involves the administration of anti-androgenic drugs to reduce sexual interest, compulsive sexual fantasies and the capacity for sexual arousal. It is given in the form of an injection once every three months and is reversible when treatment is discontinued. There are, however, lasting side effects.

Chemical castration laws are in force in a number of US states and other countries including South Korea, Moldova, Russia and Estonia.

Chemical castration is used in different ways in those countries. Some countries enforce it as a part of sentencing, while other countries apply it as a way for perpetrators to reduce their jail time.

Health Minister Nila Djuwita Anfasa Moeloek said she endorsed forced chemical castration because she believed that sexual abuse against children would produced major psychological trauma in the victims.

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said that during a recent meeting, the President, several ministers and the attorney general expressed their support for the additional punishment as a means to deter child sex offenders.

She added that she had asked the President to issue a presidential instruction (Perpres) that placed child protection as a top priority in the country'€™s development. '€œWe already have child protection laws, but a presidential instruction would regulate more specific details,'€ she continued.

In recent months, high-profile sexual assault cases against children have dominated local media headlines. On Oct. 6, Jakarta Police arrested 39-year-old Agus Darmawan for allegedly raping and murdering 9-year-old Putri Nur Fauziah in Kalideres, West Jakarta. Putri'€™s body was found in a cardboard box at a garbage dump.

On Dec. 22 last year, five cleaners were sentenced to seven and eight years'€™ imprisonment for sexually assaulting pupils at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS).

However, while many have said that they support chemical castration, the idea remains controversial.

Muhammad Mustofa, a criminologist with the University of Indonesia, agreed that children should be protected from sex offenders at all costs. However, he argued that forced chemical castration was not an effective solution.

'€œYou only undermine the problem if you think additional punishment will reduce child rape cases. We should get to the root of the issue'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

According to Mustofa, the government should focus on prevention strategies, such as embedding moral values and raising the awareness of parents on the importance of being involved in a child'€™s life.

Research conducted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 2013 found that child sex offenders constituted a diverse group of people and not all of them had a pedophilic disorder.

Child psychologist Seto Mulyadi asked the government to reconsider its position on chemical castration out of concern that it would only make perpetrators act more aggressively.

Research in the US has shown that the treatment could generate anger in the perpetrators.

'€œThey will claim more victims as a form of revenge against the state,'€ he said.
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