NSS-led coalition calls for parliamentary inquiry on circumcision

A coalition coordinated by the National Secular Society has urged Parliament's health and social care committee to launch an inquiry into the non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.

The call came in a letter from 14 signatories including the National Secular Society, circumcision support charity 15 Square, doctors, and families harmed by non-therapeutic circumcision.

Liberal Democrat peer Paul Scriven and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell also signed.

The letter noted there is no legal requirement that circumcisers be medically trained, and non-medical circumcisers are entirely unregulated. "This arrangement is endangering the health and lives of children", it said.

It said non-therapeutic circumcision is "ethically and legally anomalous" in that "the youngest and most vulnerable are afforded the fewest protections".

Circumcising an adult without his consent would constitute grievous bodily harm. British Medical Association (BMA) guidance states: "The BMA cannot envisage a situation in which it is ethically acceptable to circumcise a child who refuses the procedure, irrespective of the parents' wishes."

Therefore, it is those youngest children, who "have no voice and who cannot consent, who are left unprotected", the letter said.

It said surgeries, such as circumcision, are "inherently dangerous" and should only be performed on children by doctors, and "only with medical necessity".

Non-therapeutic circumcision is facing renewed scrutiny in the UK after an ex-doctor was jailed for five years in January for actual bodily harm and child cruelty related to the practice.

The judge, family members and the police all called for boys to be better protected.

Responding to the case, the Government acknowledged the "harm or trauma" caused by unregulated practitioners performing non-therapeutic circumcisions, but failed to commit to introducing safeguards.

Another non-therapeutic circumciser was convicted on seven counts of GBH last month. He is due to be sentenced next month.

Penis "mutilated" and boy "almost lost their life"

The call for a parliamentary inquiry also comes as new NSS research reveals circumcision related complaints against doctors last year.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the NSS to the medical regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), revealed nine complaints related to circumcision involving eight doctors in 2024.

In one case a doctor "approved and supervised a circumcision where a child almost lost their life". In another, a doctor carried out a circumcision on a child "which has left patient with a mutilated penis".

The GMC does not record whether complaints about circumcisions refer to those which are medically necessary (for example, for a pathologically tight foreskin) or those performed for religious or cultural reasons (non-therapeutic circumcisions).

Non-therapeutic circumcisions on boys are most common among Jewish, Muslim and some African Christian communities, where they are often considered a religious obligation.

As medically necessary circumcisions are rare in children, it is likely the complaints may involve non-therapeutic circumcisions.

According to the GMC none of the complaints have proceeded to a fitness to practice hearing, in which a doctor could be suspended or struck off.

In 2023, the GMC revealed there had been 39 complaints relating to circumcision between 2012 and 2022. The complaints include incidents in which a boy's penis was left deformed and a baby required a blood transfusion.

NSS: 'Time for Parliament and the medical establishment to act'

National Secular Society human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: "This FOI reveals the appalling harm wrought on boys by circumcision, even when performed by doctors.

"If circumcisions carried out by medical professionals nearly killed one child and left another's penis mutilated, the injuries inflicted by unregulated non-medics are likely to be even worse.

"Parents, the judiciary and the police have recently called for boys to be protected from the dangers of medically unnecessary circumcision. It is now time for Parliament and the medical establishment to act."

"Circumcision is a surgery. Surgeries are inherently dangerous. They should only be performed on children by doctors, and only with medical necessity."