The Chamber of Deputies approved today (12) the chemical castration of pedophiles. There were 367 votes in favor, 85 against and 14 abstentions. The proposal was inserted during the vote on a project that amends the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) to establish a national registry of pedophiles. The text now goes to the Senate.
Under the project, the registry will allow the availability of data on those convicted with final judgment for crimes related to sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adolescents. It will be up to the National Council of Justice (CNJ) to centralize the information on a platform with the convict’s qualification data, including photography.
In November, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had already sanctioned a law with the same content. THE Law 15,035/2024 includes in the Penal Code authorization to carry out a public search using the full name and registration number in the Individual Taxpayer Registry (CPF) of those convicted of the crimes of rape, rape of vulnerable people, sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and exploitation of prostitution, in addition the conduct of filming and disseminating intimate videos of third parties without authorization.
Jabuti
Initially, the chemical castration proposal was presented as a plenary amendment. The project’s rapporteur, Delegate Katarina (PSD-SE), rejected the proposal for violating the leaders’ agreement to vote on the main text.
“Due to the political agreement reached in the Plenary, in order for the main text to be approved, we reject the amendment”, he explained.
With the rejection, a highlight was presented by the PL, to vote on chemical castration. The inclusion was criticized in plenary. Deputy delegate Adriana Accorsi (PT-GO) reiterated that the highlight was not part of what was agreed by party leaders. “This vote is disrespectful to my colleague, Delegate Katarina, who stated here that this amendment was not part of the bills agreed by the leaders”, he pointed out.
Debate
Deputy Lídice da Mata (PSB-BA) said that chemical castration will not contribute to the protection of children and adolescents, since pedophiles can use other means, including virtual ones, to commit sexual violence against children and adolescents.
“Rape today occurs in different ways. There is even virtual rape. Therefore, resolving the penile issue, as some say here, does not resolve the rapist’s mind or his ability to harm a child. When, however, a child is raped and becomes pregnant by the rapist, the majority of them defend that the child should be forced to be a mother”, said the deputy referring to the attempt by parliamentarians to vote on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 164 /2012, which prohibits legal abortion in Brazil.
Representative Talíria Petrone (Psol-RJ) also took the stand to criticize the measure, classifying it as a farce. Talíria, who is the mother of a four-year-old girl, said that the initiative is hypocritical and aims to promote criminal populism.
“This article is a hoax,” he said. “Public policy needs to concretely resolve the problem of sexual violence against children, which is an epidemic, a drama in Brazil. This first involves prevention. First I have to prevent girls and children from being raped, with sexual education in schools, prevention, campaigns and, then, holding the aggressor accountable. Rape and sexual violence are related to power and there is no point in castrating a man because he will continue to be an aggressor, violating these children in other ways. What is happening here is a farce”, criticized the deputy.
Representative Sanderson (PL-RS) defended the initiative, with the argument that castration is adopted in other countries, such as the United States, Russia, Poland, Israel, Indonesia, among others.
“This is an important project. It is a less serious measure, because the ideal would be the death penalty for pedophiles. The penal code does not yet include the criminal type of pedophilia. We use the rape of a vulnerable person, for which the penalty is eight years”, he said. “Chemical castration will give a positive result, putting an end to this pedophile fever”, he said.
Currently, there is no specific provision for pedophilia in the Penal Code. According to the approved text, chemical castration will be applied cumulatively to the penalties already provided for crimes of violence and sexual exploitation provided for in both the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) and the Penal Code.
According to the approved highlights, the measure will be carried out through the use of libido-inhibiting medications, under the terms regulated by the Ministry of Health, observing medical contraindications.
