In a rare decision, Madagascar has enacted a law involving castration of those who found guilty of raping minors. in some cases chemical and in other through surgical means.
The law has garnered support as well as drawn criticism from international rights groups. Activists who support the law say that it is a right measure to stop a “rape culture.”
The 28 million-person island nation in the Indian Ocean passed the legislation on February 2 and last week the Senate, the upper house, gave it its approval. After being brought up for the first time in December, it now needs to be approved by the High Constitutional Court and ratified by the President Andry Rajoelina. The new law was proposed by his government.
According to Justice Minister Landy Mbolatiana Randriamanantenasoa, the rise in child rape cases makes this action imperative. 600 cases of minor rape were reported in 2023, according to her, and 133 cases as of January this year.
“Madagascar is a sovereign country which has the right to modify its laws in relation to circumstances and in the general interest of the people,” Randriamanantenasoa said. “The current penal code has not been enough to curb the perpetrators of these offenses.”
The language of the law states that surgical castration “will always be pronounced” for those found guilty of raping a child under the age of ten. Castration, either surgical or chemical, will be the punishment for cases of rape committed against children between the ages of 10 and 13. The penalty for raping a minor between the ages of 14 and 17 is chemical castration.
