MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - The head of a Russian parliamentary committee on the family has rejected proposals to introduce chemical castration of pedophiles into Russian law.
Yelena Mizulina, chair of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, said on Thursday that making information about people convicted of sexually abusing children available on the internet would do more to prevent reoffending.
"In some countries, such as the U.S., the need for chemical castration was assessed. Fellow lawmakers tell us it has little effect, as chemical castration does not kill the desire for sexual contact. These people switch to other means of sexual contact," Mizulina told reporters.
Anton Belyakov, a deputy from the A Just Russia party, introduced on September 30 draft amendments to the Russian Criminal Code under which pedophiles would be given the option of chemical castration to be released from jail.
He said that the alternative to castration should be life imprisonment. His proposal would apply to the rape or sexual assault of a child under 14 years of age and sexual intercourse or indecent assault of children under the age of 12.
Mizulina said the registration of pedophiles after release from prison would serve as a guarantee that they would not reoffend.
She also said that in the United States a conviction for pedophilia carries a mandatory prison sentence, while in Russia you can "get away" with a fine.
"In the United States, a person convicted of pedophilia who has served their sentence must register with the police no more than a day after arriving at a residence. If he does not, he gets another 15 years in prison," she said.
Mizulina said that other countries are afraid to introduce such laws because they fear reprisals against pedophiles, but added that the law was popular in the United States, which had not seen such attacks.
She said Russian law was needed to protect children better, especially against child pornography, and a number of amendments to the Criminal Code would eliminate vague language that was exploited by pedophiles to escape punishment.
Mizulina said that statistically, only 15% of sexual assaults on children were committed by strangers, with 50% committed by parents against their own children, and the remaining 35% by relatives or neighbors of the victim.
In 2008, 1,300 instances of sexual violence against children were reported in Russia, as well as 5,200 nonviolent sexual offenses against minors.
