Legislators in Guam have passed a bill to pilot chemically castrating sex offenders.
The bill today scraped through the legislature by eight votes to seven.
The Chemical Castration for Sex Offenders Act will see the Department of Corrections refer convicted sex offenders to undergo anti-androgen treatment one week before their release.
Androgen Deprivation Therapy involves the injection of anti-hormone drugs to suppress testosterone production and shut down a person's sex drive.
According to national and local statistics, Guam has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the United States.
One of the bill's supporters, Senator Brant McCreadie says the legislation is aimed at mitigating this rate.
The bill has been forwarded to Guam's governor Eddie Calvo for approval and if passed will make Guam the only US territory to adopt chemical castration for sex offenders and paedophiles.
California was the first US state to specify chemical castration for child molestation in 1996, and today at least nine states have some form of chemical castration for sex offenders in their legislation.
