Sign the appeal

Summary

> Recipients

1 - Circumcision and suffering: from ignorance to denial

2 - The American culture of circumcision of newborns taking over the whole world

3 - In France: internal refugees

4 - From “freedom of religion” to “freedom to coerce”

5 - A global consensus within reach on the age of consent to circumcision

ATTM - Open letters to Muslim and Jewish religious leaders

ATTM - Press kit

Public signatories

Organizations

Prominent individuals

International Campaign

July 2019: 1st press release

Recipients

To Marlène Schiappa, Secretary of State for Equality between Women and Men and for the Fight against Discrimination

cc:

Agnès Buzyn, Minister of Solidarity and Health

Adrien Taquet, Secretary of State to the Minister of Solidarity and Health

Nicole Belloubet, Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice

Geneviève Avenard, Children’s Ombudsman

Gilles Bloch, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM)

High Council for Equality between Women and Men

National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH)

Advisory Council for Equality between Women and Men (G7)

Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (European Parliament)

Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Men and Women (European Commission)

Gender Equality Commission (Council of Europe)

European Institute for Gender Equality (European Union)

Association des Ombudsmans et Médiateurs Francophones (AOMF)

European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC)

Launch of this international campaign: summer 2019

Madam Secretary of State,

The signatories of this appeal, who wish for the abandonment of sexual mutilation, congratulate you on your initiative for an “excision plan”. A plan addressing male sexual mutilation is also needed: it is estimated that 1 in 4 boys in the world has been circumcised in the absence of free and informed consent and without medical necessity.

1 - Circumcision and suffering: from ignorance to denial

Ignorance - Circumcision is an irreversible removal of the foreskin that can cause severe suffering for the rest of one’s life. There is no institutional recognition of this physical and psychological suffering, which has not yet led to any investigation, prevention or reparation. A sign of hope: such a recognition was finally made in 2016 in the UN Committee against Torture’s criticism of France regarding intersex children, an awakening to the fact that women are unfortunately not the only victims of sexual mutilation (“Pour l’arrêt des mutilations des enfants intersexes” Libération 10 September 2018).

Denial - Scientific studies have shown that circumcision of newborns causes extreme pain, characterized for example by a significant increase in heart rate and cortisol levels. [1] This extreme pain is hardly surprising, since the foreskin is the main sensory unit of the penis, and effective anesthesia at this age would entail a higher risk of death. Astonishingly, no child protection institution seems to be concerned about this.

2 - The American culture of circumcision of newborns taking over the whole world

United States - In addition to the severe pain inflicted on millions of babies, newborn circumcision could cause 100 to 200 deaths each year in the United States alone. This figure is obviously questionable since, oddly, there are no official statistics in the world that would make it possible to get a clear picture. Indeed, homicides of this type are hidden through attribution to “hemorrhage, infection, cardiac arrest, anesthetic accident…” and not to “circumcision”, which prevents them from being brought to justice. What compelling reason is there for this aberration by the world’s leading power? The fight against masturbation. This is the forgotten religious origin of an American tradition born more than a century ago and constantly in search of a scientific justification. Alone in the world and against all evidence, the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to claim that “the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks”.

WHO/UNAIDS - The extensive circumcision campaign launched in 2007 by the WHO and UNAIDS, inspired by the American model, also takes aim at newborns: “Since neonatal circumcision is a less complicated and risky procedure than circumcision performed in young boys, adolescents or adults, such countries should consider how to promote neonatal circumcision in a safe, culturally acceptable and sustainable manner.” UNICEF supports this campaign, despite its mission “to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.”

Lack of consent? It is hard to believe that the 20 million Africans already circumcised as part of this campaign, funded by American philanthropy [2], have given their “free and informed” consent:

- to the irreversible loss of an essential part of their sexual faculties;

- to the extreme pain of their newborns;

- to circumcision that is “riskier” for adults than for newborns, when this risk is already unacceptable for newborns.

International Campaign

July 2019: 1st press release

Source : 24PRESSE July 18, 2019

Sexual mutilation: Appeal to public debate on circumcision An Appeal to open a public debate on the conditions for consent to male circumcision is addressed to the French government and international institutions. This Appeal has already gained signatures from many individuals and organizations, from over fifty countries, who are concerned with the wellbeing of children. These signatories are drawn together from all viewpoints, above and beyond safeguarding children: opponents of excision (genital mutilation), proponents of feminism, secularism, health, science and even religion. Gender discrimination This Appeal, addressed many prominent institutions and public advocates, most notably Marlène Schiappa, in charge of gender equality and the fight against discrimination, denounces the persistent discrimination in the consideration of female and male genital mutilation, without forgetting intersex people. Male circumcision can also be a source of heavy and lifelong suffering. From “Freedom of Religion” to “Freedom to Coerce” Attached to this Appeal, open letters are addressed to Muslim and Jewish religious authorities, drawing attention “to the fact that this Appeal particularly targets the circumcision of [male] newborns”. For centuries, the guilty silence of public institutions has been complicit in millions of circumcisions practiced without proper anesthesia, on newborns who are victims experiencing extreme pain levels, according to indicators such as a significant increase in heart rate or cortisol level. Lack of consent? As the United States works to spread circumcision around the world under the pretext of fighting HIV/AIDS, the next step in our initiative will be to establish an international coordinated effort that will extend this Appeal in all countries. In particular, this effort will aim to set up an investigating committee focusing on the mass circumcision campaigns conducted by WHO and UNAIDS beginning in 2007, looking into the possiblity of “lack of consent” for millions of Africans. Prior agreement of Health Insurance The case of an 8-year-old child threatened with religious circumcision, under the pretext of a medical circumcision reimbursed by health insurance, was forwarded to the Children’s Advocate: to date, there has been no reaction in response to our two alerting emails. At a time when France has just banned “spanking”, it is high time to request a prior agreement (prior authorization) for any circumcision.

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