World Health Organization
Female genital mutilation (FGM), often referred to as 'female circumcision', comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons. There are 4 classified different types of female genital mutilation known to be practised today.
Most of the girls and women who have undergone genital mutilation live in 28 African countries, although some live in Asia and the Middle East. They are also increasingly found in Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA, primarily among immigrants from these countries. More ..
"..Circumcision May cause Urinary Tract Infection"
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are rare, and mainly occur in the first year of life. They are several times more common in girls than boys (but of course surgery is never considered for girls).
They are painful, and women's experience of them is a powerful inducement to have sons circumcised, if they imagine that this will protect them. In fact, a significant proportion of boys contract UTIs even though they are circumcised. A study in Israel found they mainly occurred in girls at four months, but in boys soon after they were circumcised.... Now an Australian study suggests circumcision may cause urinary problems. More..
The growing consensus against circumcision
National Post
August 30, 2002
Just 30 years ago, male circumcision was all the rage; as many as 90% of boys in the United States, 70% of those in Australia, 48% in Canada and 24% in the United Kingdom were circumcised (often without any anesthesia).
I remember the war that waged in my own mind when my son was born in the 1980s.
I had no religious reasons for choosing circumcision; I wasn't trying to guard against "unhealthy masturbation," as early proponents of circumcision were. I didn't care if he looked like dad, as some parents do. I wanted to know only one thing: What would be best for him -- medically.
If he wasn't circumcised, would I be responsible for increasing his chances of urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted disease, as some physicians had suggested? Would it mean he might need the operation later in life, when circumcision is more uncomfortable, not to mention unpleasant?
What if he had the operation and got an infection? What if the knife slipped? How would I live with myself?
More important, how would he live with himself? More..
Circumcision
Circumcision of Males / Females - Male / Female Genital Mutilation (MGM) (FGM)
Circumcision of Males / Male Genital Mutilation (MGM)
It is the position of the Canadian Children's Rights Council that "circumcision" of male or female children is genital mutilation of children.
The statistics show more Canadians parents are not having their infant sons circumcised ( genitally mutilated ). The rate for male infants in Canada has dropped from about 50% in 1998 to about 20% in 2000. The overall incidence of male circumcision for all of Canada declined to about 13.9 percent for the year 2003.
Rates of male infant circumcision in the province of Quebec dropped from about 30% in 1971 to a current rate of less than 3%. The rate in the province of Ontario, Canada's most populous province dropped from about 60% in 1971 to about 18% in 2003. Western provinces generally have dropped the same rate to about 20-25%. Newfoundland had a 1971 rate of about 7% and has dropped to about .6% at most in 2001. Nova Scotia had a 1971 rate of approximately 53% and has dropped to a 2001 rate of 1.5%.
In 2003, the rate of male circumcision in the United States of America was about 55.9% with a rate of about 77.8% in the midwest.
In South Korea, boys 10-13 years old are routinely circumcised mistakenly "for medical reasons". More .. .
About Male Circumcision / Genital Mutilation
At birth, the foreskin is normally fused to the underlying glans, protecting that delicate organ and, also, the urinary meatus. As the child gets older, the foreskin very gradually loosens and becomes retractible.
The practice of circumcision, as performed during the time of Abraham, involved "cutting off the protruding tip of the typical infant foreskin with a single cut," leaving most of the foreskin intact. No attempt was made to loosen the foreskin prematurely, so the penis was able to develop normally. Modern circumcision, however, forcibly detaches the protective foreskin from the glans and removes what would eventually become a third or more of the adult's total penile skin covering. Once the foreskin is removed, the "exquisitely sensitive" glans penis comes in direct contact with feces, urine and abrasive diapers. Infant's screams, as well as changes in heart rate and respiration, transcutaneous p02, adrenal cortical hormone secretion, sleep, and behaviour patterns, testify to the pain caused during and after circumcision. It takes 10 to 14 days for the area to heal.
Circumcision often causes an ulceration at the urethral opening (meatal ulceration), affecting 20% to 50% of all circumcised infants. In many cases, the opening narrows (meatal stenosis), although it may take years for the condition to be noticed. The normal urinary stream in the male is a spiraling ribbon. The urinary stream in meatal stenosis is needle-like, prolonged and frequently associated with discomfort.
Circumcision also affects sexual pleasure. The inner layer of the foreskin produces smegma, which keeps the glans soft. Without its protective and moisturizing cover, the sensitive glans becomes dry and leathery, resembling skin instead of a mucous membrane. In addition to maintaining glans sensitivity, an intact, mobile foreskin also provides indirect stimulation during intercourse.
During intercourse with an intact penis, the male's mobile sheath is placed within the woman's vaginal sheath. It is impossible to imagine any better mechanical arrangement for non-abrasive stimulation of the male and female genitalia than this slick 'sheath within a sheath.'
The belief that circumcision is necessary in order to make the penis easier to clean and to prevent infection simply isn't true. As long ago as 1971, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated, "There is no absolute medical indication for routine circumcision of the newborn....
A program of education leading to continuing good personal hygiene would offer all the advantages of routine circumcision without the attendant surgical risk. Therefore, circumcision of the male neonate cannot be considered an essential component of adequate total health care.
Nevertheless, some doctors continue to promote circumcision, exerting considerable influence on parents' decision. One such pro-circumcision doctor at Northwestern Hospital in the U.S.A. who tells parents that "his own sons are circumcised and he wouldn't 'run the risk' of being intact." That hospital's circumcision rate of 87.7% is well above the state average of 63%. Also in the U.S.A., Vermont's Gifford Memorial Hospital, on the other hand, does not promote circumcision and will not perform the operation until the baby is at least 24 hours old. That hospital has Vermont U.S.A.'s lowest circumcision rate, only 4%.
Third-party reimbursement, also encourages circumcision. Not surprisingly, circumcision rates are higher in U.S.A. states where doctors receive more from Medicaid for doing them. When circumcision was categorized as cosmetic surgery by England's health system in 1948, and the system no longer reimbursed physicians, circumcision rates fell to below 0.5%--without an increase in infections or corresponding increase in cervical cancer among women.
What is viewed as a simple, accepted practice has significant long-term consequences that both men and women need to understand.
We provide educational information on this website including current medical association positions, Canadian law, statistics, articles from newspapers, articles from religious sources or other information to assist with a better understanding of this issue.
The position of the Canadian Children's Rights Council
The Canadian Children's Rights Council position is that there is no medical benefit to the routine genital mutilation (circumcision) of any children (defined by U.N. as those under 18 years of age). Further, all Canadian children, both male and female, should be protected by the criminal laws of Canada with regards to this aggravated assault. Currently, the protection provided by the Criminal Code of Canada includes only genital mutilation (circumcision) of female children.
Our position is that all children should be protected from all forms of genital mutilation (circumcision of all types) including but not limited to, circumcision that doesn't affect sexual function or that may be viewed by others as sexual enhancement surgery. Male circumcision does affect sexual function.
Canada and many other countries have responded positively to the U.N. initiatives to stop female genital mutilation (FGM), so female genital mutilation in Canada is all but non existent and is by law considered to be aggravated assault, an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada.
It is unfortunate that the feminist groups which sought the protection of female children did not seek the protection of male children. Their lack of concern and effort to protect male children has been viewed by some as a control and misandry issue of the western radical feminist movement
There is much evidence in the various articles and documents on this website and elsewhere that suggests that the radical western feminists' groups have unfairly blamed the female circumcision (genital mutilation) issue as being some form of male dominance or control over women in countries that previously practiced female genital mutilation. The evidence is substantially to the contrary.
A tragedy is occurring in Canada right now. Canada's health services have recognized that they shouldn't be paying for circumcision. It has no value as a health measure. Parents, out of medical ignorance, or who wrongly believe their religious obligations necessitate genital mutilation of their male children are asking that it be done.
The medical evidence we have examined in detail provides substantial proof that the penis head, when protected by an intact foreskin, provides normal sexual stimulation during sexual intercourse for all ages of males, while those males that have had their foreskins removed by means of circumcision feel less sensitively , especially among men over 40 years of age. In numerous countries in which male circumcision is virtually non-existent, such as in Japan, men more frequently use condoms because of the increased sensitivity with an intact foreskin which itself is full of nerves and protects the penis head and keeps it in its normal condition.
If "medical necessity" is claimed, we suggest that such a claim is invariably fraudulent. Since in Finland, and in other countries, which have a zero rate of male circumcision at birth, and the risk of needing one later is one in sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty-seven (1/16,667), every claim for "medical necessity" should fully investigated.
Female Circumcision / Genital Mutilation
What about parents who take their daughters to other countries for this "medical procedure"?
Some of this "circumcision" doesn't affect sexual function. Canadian's who take their female children to other countries to have them circumcised are committing a Criminal Code of Canada criminal offence and will be prosecuted upon discovery after returning to Canada. Male children deserve the same protection as female children.
There are a multitude of human rights and international law issues involved when Canadian law extends Criminal Code offences to those Canadian Citizens who commit such acts outside of Canada when Canadian child citizens are victims of female genital mutilation.
Such good intentioned laws contravene international law by infringing on other countries sovereignty.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 1910
Rapid circumcision of males and females
A new device for "bloodless" circumcision
In 1910, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by S.L. Kistler MD, of Los Angeles, on the need for circumcision in both males and females, along with a vigorous advocacy his own patent bloodless method. Like Hiram Yellen and Aaron Goldstein 25 years later, he had invented a special clamp for the purpose.
"Rapid bloodless circumcision of males and females
Circumcision, one of our most common minor operations, is bunglingly done in many instances, notwithstanding its simplicity. This operation, though an old one, is still interesting, and means have long been sought whereby it could be more easily and quickly performed and be attended with less hemorrhage, and consequently meet with less objection on the part of parent and patient.
Many a surgeon has lost his best clients, and likewise many a good prospect has gone glimmering because of the unfortunate outcome of this little operation. " More ..
Journal of the American Medical Association
Study of Male Infant Circumcision - University of Alberta 1997
The University of Alberta 1997 study in question involved performing non-essential surgery ( circumcisions ) on non-consenting persons, helpless infant males. All of the subjects suffered pain; some were traumatized to the point of danger. The study was halted prematurely after one of the subjects vomited, went into shock and stopped breathing for more than 25 seconds.
It is the opinion of the Canadian Children's Rights Council that the study did not adhere to the principles governing research on humans? Specifically, the study did not comply with the provisions of the following instruments:
- Nuremberg Code;
- Declaration of Helsinki;
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Standards for Research Involving Humans.
- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
University of Alberta 1997 Study on male genital mutilation
Circumcision "the unkindest cut of all"
The London Times, UK, by David Baker, March 24, 2008
Barbaric, mutilation, child abuse, freaks, nutters, obsessives. The language on both sides of the debate about infant male circumcision is not always temperate. Put together new-born boys, their penises, knives and two of the world's oldest religions and passions are likely to run high.
While last month saw the fifth International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, marking a fairly united global campaign against the practice in females, the arguments about the removal of a male infant's foreskin seem mired in misinformation, accusations and despair.
What is clear is that there are very few medical indications nowadays for choosing circumcision over other procedures. More..
Canada's largest national daily newspaper
Boy raised as a girl suffered final indignity
The Globe and Mail, By GRAEME SMITH, May 11, 2004 - Page A1
WINNIPEG -- Most of David Reimer's tragedies have been well-documented: how his penis was burned off during a botched circumcision, how doctors tried surgery and hormones to make him a girl and how the experiment went horribly wrong.
But only his friends knew the 38-year-old Winnipegger was agonizing over yet another personal catastrophe in the months before he committed suicide last week. More ..
Links
We have about 35 major links on our "Links" web page dealing with male and female genital mutilation.
Take note of our policy: The Canadian Children's Rights Council has a policy of considering all important views on children's rights issues. To meet this objective, you will find some linked websites with directly opposing views but are provided to better understand those positions and viewpoints.
Be very suspicious of medical claims made by religious organizations which are used for the purpose of justifying their religious positions.
To go to our genital mutilation section of our links page. click here
Resources
Books:
Doctors Re-examine Circumcision, by Thomas Ritter, M.D. and George Denniston, M.D. , University of Washington
The Joy of Uncircumcising, by Jim Bigelow Ph.D.
Circumcision, The Hidden Trauma, by Ronald Goldman Ph.D.
Questioning Circumcision, A Jewish Perspective, by Ronald Goldman Ph.D.
Videos:
PBS (Public Broadcasting System) U.S.A.
Documentary 1995
Articles
BodyBark-clad monster guards Senegal circumcision rite
Reuters, U.S.A., By Rose Skelton, Friday, November 4, 2005
ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal (Reuters) - Dressed head-to-toe in a costume of deep red tree bark and with a large knife in each hand, the monster-like figure turns the corner of a quiet street, screeches and strides after a group of fleeing women.
Trampling plastic buckets beneath its oversized bark-clad feet, it slashes at wooden market stalls where minutes before vendors were lazily swatting flies from piles of fish.
Petrified children cry and women scream as they flee the "Kankouran," a mysterious figure believed to be endowed with special powers who appears in the villages of Senegal's southern Casamance region during annual circumcision rites.
During the August-November rainy season, young boys are circumcised during elaborate three-week ceremonies celebrated by the Manding people of Casamance. Celebrants dressed as the Kankouran play a key role in these rites. More ..
After 13 years, justice for boy left brain-damaged after circumcision
Betrayed by doctors and lawyer, family finally wins case
A Washington couple has finally won justice for their son, 13 years after he was left brain-damaged after his circumcision.
When Jacob Sweet was born at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A. in January 1986, it was a dream come true for his parents. But Beverly and Gary Sweet's dream took a nightmarish turn only nine days later when they took him back to the hospital for treatment of an infected circumcision and the hospital returned a severely brain-damaged and blind child. The nightmare continued for 13 years - but a major settlement was announced today between the family, now of Bothell, Washington, and the Alaska law firm that handled the Sweet's medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital and the pediatrician who treated Jacob. More ..
Pediatricians turn away from circumcision
The United States is the only country that routinely circumcises baby boys for non-religious reasons
CNN, U.S.A., March 1, 1999, From Parenting Correspondent Pat Etheridge
ATLANTA (CNN) -- American pediatricians are turning away from the practice of routine circumcision, concluding that doctors have no good medical reason to perform the procedure.
The United States is the only country in the world that routinely removes the foreskins of infant boys. Critics of circumcision got additional ammunition Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a leading medical organization.
The academy concluded the benefits "are not compelling enough" for circumcision to be routinely administered. And if doctors do go ahead with the practice, the pediatricians' group recommended the use of pain relief for the child afterward -- the first time it has made that recommendation. More ..
Deconstructing circumcision
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, By Jon Delano Tuesday, March 16, 1999
It was a tough week for American boys.
First, the Academy of Pediatrics issued its latest circumcision policy statement, advising, too late for most of us, that there is no real medical evidence to justify tampering with male genitals in the United States.
Then, contrary to the old saw that infants don't feel pain, the baby docs declared that when it comes to this little surgery, yikes, it hurts. The Academy says that hospital circumcision accompanied by tears and increased rates of heartbeat, blood pressure and oxygen levels should now include local anesthesia to reduce some of the surgical stress on a day-old boy.
Finally, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that a Boston bio-engineering company is "harvesting" foreskins to make a quasi-synthetic skin for burn victims and folks with skin disorders. While this may be a medical advancement, the notion of people walking around with someone else's foreskin is a bit bizarre, especially if it wasn't necessary to remove it from the kid in the first place! More ..
Baby dies, guidelines change
CHBC Okanagan Valley Television, A CanWest company, B.C.
July 14, 2004
An Okanagan incident is being cited as new guidelines for BC doctors suggest that male circumcision may
amount to abuse.
Male circumcision may be abuse, new B.C. doctors' guidelines suggest
Canadian Press NewsWire. Toronto: Jul 13, 2004. p. n/a
Unkindest cut of all could be human rights issue;
CanWest News. Don Mills, Ont.: Jul 13, 2004. p. 1
Male circumcision may be abuse, new B.C. doctors' guidelines suggest; [Final Edition 1]
Daily Bulletin. Kimberley, B.C.: Jul 14, 2004. p. 5
Male circumcision may be abuse, new B.C. doctors' guidelines suggest; [Final Edition]
Daily Townsman. Cranbrook, B.C.: Jul 14, 2004. p. 5
Circumcision human rights abuse?; [Final Edition]
Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Jul 14, 2004. p. A.7
British Columbia: Circumcision may be abuse: doctors; [Final Edition]
Examiner. Barrie, Ont.: Jul 14, 2004. p. A.8
Circumcision rights violation: new guidelines; [Final Edition]
Prince George Citizen. Prince George, B.C.: Jul 14, 2004. p. 5
Doctor says circumcision could be abuse under new guidelines; [Final Edition]
Sault Star. Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.: Jul 14, 2004. p. B.10
Circumcision may be abuse: new doctors' guidelines; [Final Edition]
Standard. St. Catharines, Ont.: Jul 14, 2004. p. B.6
Docs fear circumcision violates human rights; [FINAL C Edition]
Ethan Baron. The Province. Vancouver, B.C.: Jul 14, 2004. p. A.19
Male circumcision may be abuse, new B.C. doctors' guidelines suggest; [Final Edition]
Daily Press. Timmins, Ont.: Jul 15, 2004. p. B.6
B. C. college
tightens its circumcision recommendations
VANCOUVER Opponents of circumcision are applauding a new policy statement issued by the B.C. College of
Physicians and Surgeons.
Medical Post, to all Canadian MDs. , By Lynn Haley, July 6th, 2004
The
growing consensus against circumcision
NATIONAL POST, Jackie Smith, August 30, 2002
`Totally unexpected' death of baby probed
Five-week-old infant died after he was circumcised at Penticton hospital
The Province (British Columbia, Canada), Jason Proctor, Thursday, August 29, 2002.
Circumcision
unnecessary, say Sask. doctors
Canadian Press, CTV and various newspapers across Canada, February 21, 2002
Jews
protest Swedish circumcision restriction
Reuters, June 2001.
Debate continues
over circumcision
Activists call for end to procedure
Toronto Sun, July 6, 1998
Male Circumcision has little effect on Urinary tract infection
Circumcision: A Jewish
Inquiry
By Lisa Braver Moss
Abridged and adapted from a piece that originally appeared in Midstream magazine (1992).
History of Circumcision
The 1922 Encyclopaedia Love to Know
Study traces trauma of
Beduin victims of female circumcision
The Jerusalem Post, February 28, 2000, By Patricia Golan
Rights body denies issuing policy on
circumcision
Canadian Jewish News, January 25th, 2001
