Chemical castration of sex offenders in regional pilot had ‘some success’ – POA

A pilot scheme of chemical castration of sex offenders in south-west England “has had successful outcomes”, a prison officers’ union has said.

The Government has accepted a proposal in the independent sentencing review to explore further use of medication to suppress the sex drive of offenders, currently being piloted in the region.

A national rollout will begin in two regions covering 20 prisons in response to the review which called for the services to be piloted on a small scale.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) represents some healthcare staff who work in jails and a union boss said their members have “not reported any difficulties when administering this medication” as part of the south-west trial.

POA chairman Mark Fairhurst said: “The POA have been fully briefed on the extension of this trial which has had some successful outcomes.

“We are not in a position to disclose which sites this medication will be extended to.”

Under the review led by former justice secretary David Gauke, it recommended for ministers to build more evidence around the use of chemical suppression for sex offenders.

It also highlighted the treatment would not be relevant for some sex offenders such as rapists driven by power and control, rather than sexual preoccupation.

Chemical suppressants have been used in Germany and Denmark on a voluntary basis, and in Poland as mandatory for some offenders.

The review said the medications are not widely used in prisons across England and Wales but are currently delivered in prisons through a national programme, jointly commissioned by the NHS and prison service, that provides “psychologically informed” services for offenders with complex needs, and likely diagnosed with personality disorder.

It was first piloted in the UK at HMP Whatton, in Nottingham, in 2007, and was rolled out to six more prisons in 2016.

In 2022, the pilot scheme extended the treatment, called clinical management of sexual arousal, to five prisons in the south west of England.

Chemical suppressants include hormonal drugs, anti-androgens, which can be prescribed to reduce libido, and non-hormonal drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which can be used to reduce compulsive sexual thoughts.

The review said: “Only medical specialists can prescribe these medications and they should only be used in conjunction with other psycho-social treatment and support, for example, to aid individuals to engage fully with these interventions.

“Before any decision is made to establish further services for chemical suppression across England and Wales, services must be piloted on a small scale with evaluations produced.

“Various considerations, such as side effects and potential ramifications for victims, will need to be examined.”

The review also called for the need to research international use of the method to look at “ethical and practical” implications, adding: “As gaining valid, informed consent to a course of treatment is a key tenet of medical law and ethics in England and Wales.”

On Thursday, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed the Government is also exploring whether some criminals could be forced to take the medical treatment.

She told the Commons that existing studies show a 60% reduction in offending, and it would be for a subset of sex offenders where the combination of chemical suppressants and psychological interventions can “have a big and positive impact”.

“For many years there’s a pilot that has been trundling along and nobody has shown much interest in it, including any of my predecessors,” she said.

“I’m not squeamish about taking these further measures.

“It’s why we’re going to have a national rollout of this programme … so that we can build the evidence base and make sure that we are using every tool at our disposal that can cut reoffending.”

The Government has not yet confirmed which regions or prisons will be part of the pilot scheme.

But reacting to the announcement, Prison Reform Trust chief executive Pia Sinha said forcing medical treatment raises “clear ethical considerations” which could put medical practitioners in an “invidious” position.

She said: “Medical interventions to address the behaviour of people convicted of sexual offences only applies to particular types of offending – it must not be seen as a panacea.

“Any treatment that targets its use needs to be strictly risk-assessed by medical experts rather than ministers.

“Forcing people to have medical treatment raises clear ethical considerations and would also place medical practitioners in an invidious position.”