Italy Moves Closer To Chemical Castration For Sex Offenders
Italy has moved a step closer to legalizing chemical castration for convicted sex offenders, after the Chamber of Deputies approved a motion committing the government to form a technical committee to study pharmacological treatment for people convicted of sexual violence against children.
The motion was introduced by League party lawmaker Igor Iezzi and backed by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, following a series of high-profile rape cases that have shaken public confidence in the justice system.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the League's leader, called it "another important step forward in our historic battle for justice and common sense: zero tolerance for rapists and pedophiles."
League Justice Undersecretary Andrea Ostellari said in September 2026 that "in the face of new very serious episodes of sexual violence, especially against minors, concrete answers are needed," adding that it was time to "start the technical table and transform this will into a concrete proposal."
Not A Law Yet
What Parliament has actually approved so far is a non-binding instruction to the government, known in Italian as an ordine del giorno, not a statute.
The underlying bill, first filed by the League in August 2023 and still stalled in the Senate, would allow judges to order total hormonal blockade using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist drugs for people convicted of sexual violence, based on an assessment of the offender's dangerousness.
Under the League's model, the treatment would be framed as voluntary and complementary to a prison sentence, though it would apply automatically in cases of repeat offending or abuse of minors.
No law currently authorizes chemical castration as a criminal penalty in Italy.
Opposition Pushback
Opposition figures and rights lawyers have pushed back, arguing that a drug which alters the body sits at the edge of Italy's constitutional protections on personal integrity.
Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani has also voiced opposition to the proposal, putting him at odds with his own governing coalition.
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Source: Politico Europe, Chamber of Deputies
