In Kazakhstan, twenty-five convicted pedophiles have been chemically castrated by court order just this year
3 Apr, 2021 08:37
In Kazakhstan, twenty-five convicted pedophiles have been chemically castrated by court order just this year, official reveals
A view shows Akorda, the official residence of Kazakhstan's President, before the lights are switched off for Earth Hour in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan March 27, 2021. © Reuters / Vasily Fedosenko
Different nations have varied justice systems, but it is agreed unanimously that child rape is one of the most heinous crimes. In Kazakhstan, the punishment is castration – and, this year, 25 prisoners have had the injection.
Chemical castration works by inserting anaphrodisiac drugs that reduce the libido by blocking testosterone. According to a Kazakh law (2nd story on link) that came into force in 2018, those sentenced to time in jail for raping a minor can be court-ordered to receive it as a punishment. The effects of the injection do not last forever, and it needs to be re-administered every three months.
"As of today, there are 25 convicts serving their sentences in the penal system who have been sentenced by a court to compulsory measures in the form of chemical castration," said Alexey Milyuk, an official in the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Speaking to Kazakh news outlet Otyrar, one of the convicts who received the injection called for the practice to be outlawed, saying he would "not wish it on [his] worst enemy."
"I'm asking for help, and I want to appeal to everyone to stop this castration. I still hope to go home and continue to live. I want a family and children," he said. "After the injection, my whole body aches so much that it's hard to walk. It's scary."
Although seen by some as inhumane, chemical castration has been employed in several countries, including Poland and South Korea, as well as in a number of American states. Some countries even offer reduced sentences for those who agree to be injected.
When the law was passed, 9.6 million tenge (about $22,500) from the national budget was allocated for measures to reduce sexual libido, with the price of castrating each individual patient sitting at around 125 thousand tenge (about $295) per year.
Arkansas becomes first state to ban surgery, hormones and puberty blockers for transgender youths
6 Apr, 2021 20:35
Lawmakers in Arkansas voted on Tuesday to override a veto from Gov. Asa Hutchinson on banning surgery and treatment for transgender minors.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate in the state approved the measure despite objections from the governor and activists. The measure bans doctors from providing surgery, hormonal treatment, or puberty blockers to transgender youths if they are below 18 years of age.
The override was pushed through with a 72-25 vote in the House and 25-8 vote in the Senate.
The Republican governor vetoed the legislation on Monday, saying it creates “new standards of legislative interference with physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most complex and sensitive matters involving young people.” He also said the bill does not “grandfather those young people who are currently under hormone treatment.”
Hutchinson did sign a bill last month that allows doctors to refuse service in non-emergency cases to patients if they have a moral or religious objection. Critics have said this measure too will provide opportunities to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.
Republican Rep. Robin Lundstrum, who sponsored the bill, has countered that people should be legal adults before they make such drastic physical alterations.
The ban would officially take effect this summer, but opponents have promised to sue to block the measure before it becomes law, with The American Civil Liberties Union promising in a statement that they are in the political battle for “the long haul.”
Pa House passes statutory window for old child abuse lawsuits,
splitting GOP majority
By Stephen Caruso
Penn Capitol-Star
-April 7, 2021
By a 149-52 vote, the Pennsylvania House on Wednesday approved a measure allowing survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue their perpetrators and those who shielded them.
Unlike a constitutional amendment the Legislature passed last month, this proposal could become law with a wave of Gov. Tom Wolf’s pen, and allow for immediate court action.
The constitutional amendment would not allow lawsuits until at least 2023, following a second pass through the General Assembly, and approval by the voters at a statewide referendum.
“We have done so many bills out of the House. And they stick with the survivors. I want them to stick with us one more time,” state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, the measure’s sponsor, told the Capital-Star. “Let’s get this done, send it over to the Senate, and get to the other business at hand.”
Childhood victims of sexual abuse run out of time to sue for damages after they turn 30 years old. This bill would give them a two-year reprieve from that statute of limitations, allowing them to revive old claims in court.
Such a period to file old lawsuits was on track to be implemented this year, but the Department of State under Wolf failed to properly advertise the amendment.
The statutory change, while long sought, faces long odds in the upper chamber, which returns to Harrisburg on April 19.
Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, maintains that such a law would violate the state constitution. She said in March that her caucus would only pursue the reform as a constitutional amendment – a process that can take years.
Her spokeswoman told the Capital-Star on Tuesday that the leader’s position hadn’t changed.
As floor leader, Ward controls what bills are on the Senate’s calendar, effectively giving her the final say on which bills come up for a vote or not.
But she’s outranked in her caucus by the chamber’s influential President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, who, according to an advocate for survivors, broke with Ward on a statutory fix.
Carolyn Fortney, a Dauphin County woman who was abused as a child by the same priest who also abused her sisters, announced in a Facebook post on March 24 that Corman pledged his support for a statutory bill in a meeting in his Capitol office.
Fortney and her sisters have been leading voices of the reform effort in recent years, appearing frequently at the Capitol to testify at public hearings and lobby lawmakers.
Corman’s office has not responded to repeated requests for comment about Fortney’s visit. But the Office of the Attorney General, which in 2018 published the grand jury report on clergy sex abuse that recommended a retroactive window, indicated in a statement that Corman supported the statutory fix.
In a written statement issued in late March, Attorney General Josh Shapiro told the Capital-Star that he was “heartened by the commitment that the Senate President Pro Tempore has made to survivors” to push a floor vote on the statutory change.
“Sen. Corman did not create this mess we find ourselves in — the Department of State did — but his efforts to find a just solution are appreciated,” Shapiro said.
The House last passed a statutory window for lawsuits in late 2018 by a vote of 173-21, after Shapiro’s office released its grand jury report.
It was passed in direct opposition from then-Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. Scarnati, who has since retired, blocked that statutory proposal from a Senate vote in Oct. 2018, despite frantic lobbying efforts by abuse survivors — such as Rozzi.
The constitutional amendment was picked up as a new strategy in 2019 to get around Scarnati’s concerns, who claimed the statutory window for post facto lawsuits was unconstitutional.
The amendment was championed by Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, first elected in 2018 and also a childhood survivor of abuse.
The amendment passed both House and Senate easily last session, and was on track to appear on the state’s 2021 primary ballot when Wolf announced his administration had not advertised the amendment’s passage as is legally required.
The error reset the time table for implementing the amendment, to the horror of survivors. An effort to use a seldom used emergency constitutional amendment also fell short last month.
Wednesday’s vote split the Republican caucus down the middle, a rarity in the legislature. All but one of the dissenting votes was cast by a GOP lawmaker.
At least 21 Republican lawmakers in office in 2018 flipped from a yes to a no on the statutory window, according to a Capital-Star review of voting records.
No comments:
Post a Comment