Johanna Westeson - The ICHRP

a medical necessity in the context of the treatment of sex offenders,” and recommended
that the Czech Republic bring to an immediate end the application of the practice. 565
In Poland, a law was adopted in November 2009, making chemical castration compulsory
for adults who had raped children or immediate family members. 566 The practice of
chemical castration for sex offenders has been offered on a voluntary basis elsewhere, but
Poland is the only country in Europe where it is mandatory. From a human rights
perspective this practice raises serious concerns, as it violates a host of recognized human
rights principles, such as the right to bodily integrity, the right not to be subjected to
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the right to private and family life. EU
politicians have proposed that the Polish policy be challenged by bringing a case under it
to the European Court of Human Rights. 567
6. Concluding remarks
Legal responses to sexual violence in the European region show conflicting trends. On one
hand, fighting sexual violence against women is high on the agenda of the regional
organizations. These organizations have issued powerful statements calling, inter alia, for
the immediate criminalization of marital rape and the abolition of required evidence of
force or resistance in rape trials. Many countries have also incorporated these principles
into their domestic legislations, and there are signs that the perception of sexual violence as
something committed against the family’s ‘honor’ – rather than against the bodily and
psychological integrity of the victim – is fading. The recent reform of the Turkish penal
code, where archaic references to ‘honor,’ ‘shame,’ and ‘chastity’ have been abolished, is
an illustration of this – even though problematic aspects still prevail.
On the other hand, several countries resist these rights-based approaches to sexual
violence. This is not only true in the extreme cases where, for example, a sex-offender can
avoid criminal responsibility by marrying his victim (Romania) or where there is no
recourse for men who have been raped (Kyrgyzstan). The case law of the European Court
of Human Rights show that a number of countries may have sufficiently clear laws on
paper but inadequate mechanisms for implementing these laws, or resistance within police
and prosecutorial sectors to the application of more modern and rights-based approaches to
sexual self-determination. Here should be reiterated that the lack of clarifying case law and
reports from many countries, despite the existence of modern and inclusive laws, is a sign
that sexual violence is still a significant and under-reported problem. This is even truer
when it occurs within the home. The stigma attached to sexual violence in many countries
and power relationships between perpetrator and victim make the law insufficient to bring
the phenomenon to the surface and to effectively deal with it.
Considering the vast number of laws and variances in practices in the region, special
attention should be given the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights as a
guiding tool for human rights standards related to sexual violence. The Court has
elaborated important principles in this area that have strong bearing on sexual health. Its
565 Ibid, paras 43-44.
566 According to news reports, see inter alia BBC News, “Polish president signs chemical castration law,” 27
November 2009. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8383698.stm, last visited on 11 March 2010.
567 See Spiegel Online, “EU Politicians Angered by Polish Chemical Castration Plan,” 25 September 2008,
available at http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,580284,00.html. Last visited on 11 March
2010.
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