Chemical suppression: why the UK is exploring libido control drugs to treat sex offenders

Treatment is already required by parole boards in several countries, but some feel the practice is unethical For some prisoners with problematic sexual arousal (PSA), “images of sex flood their minds” all of their waking hours, according to Prof Belinda Winder, a leading forensic psychologist who has evaluated the use of drugs to control libidos. “I remember talking to one guy a few weeks after he started taking the medication. He said: ‘It’s amazing. I followed a film plot. I wasn’t just loo...

By Rajeev Syal and Faisa Mohamed