MP Letter: Circumcision

Protect boys from forced circumcision

Girls and women are specifically protected from all forms of non-therapeutic genital cutting, including 'minor' forms, under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. However, no such laws exist protecting boys. This means that all forms of circumcision on non-consenting male babies and children, including those involving far more tissue removal and risk of complications than some prohibited forms of FGM, are effectively legal.

Circumcision is excruciatingly painful. The foreskin is a normal body part with physical, sexual and immunological functions. Removing it from non-consenting children has been associated with various physical and psychological difficulties.

Freedom of religion is a qualified right, which means that limitations on this right can be justified in certain circumstances. The right of the individual to bodily autonomy provides such a justification.

Please write to your MP and urge them to work to ensure the fundamental rights of all children, regardless of their sex, ethnicity or the religion of their parents, are fully protected in law, by working to extend the current laws protecting girls from non-consensual, non-therapeutic genital cutting to boys.

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Dear {{name}},

I am extremely concerned that every year thousands of boys in the UK are subjected to genital cutting for religious or cultural reasons without their consent, sometimes resulting in serious complications and even death.

In the UK, three boys have bled to death in recent years following circumcision: Celian Noumbiwe, Angelo Ofori-Mintah, and Goodluck Caubergs. In 2011 alone, eleven were admitted to the intensive care unit at a single hospital (Birmingham Children’s Hospital) a single year with life-threatening haemorrhage or sepsis.

In 2014, an NHS whistleblower, himself a paediatric surgeon, said circumcisions are leaving children “maimed for life”. A Freedom of Information Request to the General Medical Council in 2022 revealed further complications including penile deformity, infection, urinary problems and use of inappropriate restraint techniques.

The NHS website lists “permanent reduction in sensation in the head of the penis, particularly during sex” as an additional risk. Furthermore, religious circumcision of boys is routinely performed without any anaesthetic. This is excruciatingly painful.

Supporters of circumcision will cite supposed health benefits as a justification for the practice. Tellingly, however, there is no western medical organisation that recommends the universal circumcision of boys on the basis of health benefits.

The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 protects women and girls from all forms of non-therapeutic genital cutting (FGM), including so-called ‘minor’ forms. By contrast, circumcision continues to enjoy a presumed exemption to the law against wounding.

This is despite a British judge ruling in 2015 that the non-therapeutic circumcision of boys, even when performed competently, meets the legal definition of “significant harm” under the Children Act 1989 and is “more invasive” than some forms of FGM.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended the UK government ensure “no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood” and “guarantee bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination to children concerned”. It has listed non-therapeutic circumcision as a “harmful practice”.

Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the freedom to manifest one’s religious beliefs is a qualified right. It can be curtailed to protect the health, rights and freedoms of others. Parental religious beliefs cannot justify subjecting a child to FGM; the same must apply to circumcision.

In 2018, YouGov polling found 62% of the UK population would support a law banning the non-medical circumcision of boys. I therefore urge you to ensure boys are afforded the same legal protections against genital cutting as girls.

Yours sincerely,

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MP Letter: Circumcision

Protect boys from forced circumcision

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