According to the US National Library of Medicine, on average, there are 433,648 victims, age 12 or older, of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States alone. According to a 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, when women are victims of sexual violence (1 in 5 women) 90 percent of the perpetrators reported are men. Moreover, an estimated 1 in 71 men, and 1 in 6 boys are victims of sexual assault, and 93 percent reported their abuser was a man.

Many people believe punishments against sex offenders should be harsher than they currently are, however, the majority believe in ‘an eye for an eye’ at the very least. In some places murderers are charged with punishment of death and so castrations for those charged for sexual assault is believed by some to be the least that can be done to reduce repeat offenders.

Testosterone is the main hormone associated with libido, the overall sexual drive in a person, and several studies have reported that violent sexual offenders have higher levels of androgens than nonviolent comparison groups. However, a clear cause-and-effect relationship between testosterone levels and sexual offending has yet to be clearly confirmed. Surgical castrations involve the physical removal of the testicles which produce 95% of a man’s testosterone while chemical castrations involve the use hormonal drugs to lower sexual desire and libido, thus reducing sexual violence recidivism.

In response to whether sex offenders should be allowed another chance before removing their testosterone, one individual who is related to a victim of sexual assault believed that ‘it isn’t as black and white as giving all sexual offenders castrations. I think it depends on the severity of the assault, whether it’s rape, in which case I fully support a castration as punishment, or groping. I do think however regardless of the event, that someone like that should be removed from society and analysed to try and understand what causes a person to even consider assault. If it were determined that they wouldn’t reoffend they could be released, if instead signs are shown of it progressing into something more, then castrations should definitely come to play.’  

Another individual commented that ‘repeat offenders of sexual assault have no excuse for their actions and a punishment like castration is the bare minimum they deserve for their actions.’

If the crime itself wasn’t bad enough, rapists, in the past, have been able to claim joint custody over children born of sexual assault.

As testosterone is one of the hormones involved in sperm production, as well as being a driving force behind sexual desire, it seems logical that sexual offenders receive castrations to reduce their hormone levels and to prevent court cases and the unimaginable effects sexual assault must have on the victims of it.