UK to Consider Male Circumcision as "a potential form of child abuse"

[PeterRS]

Well, here's something I thought i would never see! We know that roughly 40% of men around the world are circumcised, the majority for religious (Jews and Muslims) and cultural (The Philippines, many African countries etc.) reasons, and the remainder with many allegedly for health reasons (prevention of HIV etc.).

An article in today's Observer/Guardian newspaper states that the UK Crown Prosecution Service has issued the draft of new guidance for prosecutors under which male circumcision would be classified as "a potential form of child abuse."

The draft CPS guidance states that, unlike female genital mutilation, “there is not a specific criminal offence of carrying out male circumcision”.

“However, this can be a painful and harmful practice, if carried out incorrectly or in inappropriate circumstances. It may be a form of child abuse or an offence against the person,” it adds.

It goes on to illustrate its findings with a number of cases where boys under 18 have died as direct resut of the procedure, the most recent being a 6-month old baby in 2023. The article continues -

Jonathan Arkush, a former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and co-chair of Milah UK, which promotes and protects the right of the Jewish community to carry out religious circumcision, said the wording in the draft CPS guidance was misleading.

“To suggest that circumcision is in itself a harmful practice, is deeply pejorative and misplaced,” he said. “Any procedure that is carried out inappropriately or without proper controls, including piercing a child’s ears, could be a harmful practice and a possible case of child abuse.”

He added: “We shall certainly be talking to the CPS. I would very much expect that final draft not to include it, as it is so obviously incorrect and/or misleading.”

Arkush, who is also a barrister, accepted that if performed incorrectly, circumcision could constitute abuse, but he insisted the “stringent standards” applied by the Jewish community ensured this did not happen.

“The incidence of complications in circumcision performed in the Jewish community is vanishingly rare,” he said.“Circumcision is a core part of our identity. I have never met any Jewish man who thinks they’ve been harmed by circumcision.”

I hardly think that piercing a child's ears can be equated with the excision of part of a male child's God-given anatomy. But I  have always wondered why it is that those who practise circumcision on males for religious reasons regard it as "a core part of their identity." What has this to do with religion? I have heard Jewish friends tell me that the foreskin is an unnecessary part of the body, so why have it? Others suggest why interfere with nature.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/10/circumcision-classed-as-possible-child-abuse-in-draft-cps-document

[Blah]

No child should be mutilated; let them decide as adults if they wish.✂️

 

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, Blah said:

No child should be mutilated; let them decide as adults if they wish.✂️

 

One problem  with that is that circumcision as an older male has more risks, as I understand  it. Though  I assume that if you are over 18, you  have accepted any risks. 

[jimmie50]

5 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

One problem  with that is that circumcision as an older male has more risks

Not to mention that pain factor.  I know a couple of people who had it done as a young adult and they talked about how painful it was.  I guess I never really gave it much thought until this post.  Not sure I would have ever equated male circumcision to childhood mutilation.  Wasn't really something I had a choice in...back in those days in the small town where I grew up, the local hospital just automatically circumcised infant boys.  As a matter of fact, I don't know that my parents were even given a choice.  It was just SOP back then.  

[Riobard]

The vocal minority endlessly pushing the abuse narrative, consent vitiated, etc, always has a leg to stand on because getting to zero sum and putting the debate to rest is impossible given that procedure pros and cons exist across variable categories of reality and meaning. They are mainly qualitative and not amenable to quantity ratings that can be positioned either side, although epidemiology can measure certain incidence and prevalence aspects. No complete adult male referendum will easily shift the practice to the point where age of majority choice is the default.

Sexual sensitivity impairment can only be within-person evaluated pre- and post surgery in later life as no other male matched demographically is a valid comparator. A developed male’s subjective impression of altered (ie, attenuated pleasurable sensation), only subjectively accessible at same cognitive developmental level such as young adult intervention, cannot stand as proxy for the up or down regulation of infants in general latent sexual function years subsequent. It’s not as disparate as losing baby teeth and wisdom tooth extraction but it is apples/oranges. 

Isolated outlier deleterious consequences don’t reinforce the soapbox. The absurd comparison of female genital mutulation is an insulting disservice to the female population subject to that horror. 

[10tazione]

19 minutes ago, Riobard said:

as no other male matched demographically is a valid comparator.

why?

[Riobard]

20 minutes ago, 10tazione said:

why?

Because while both in possession of a both a penis and grey matter, that is, two head sizes, they do not share them or the same subjective impression of tactile stimulation. There would be no valid objective measurable gradient of pleasurable sensation. 

[10tazione]

You cannot test pleasurable sensation, but you could test sensation, no? Like a hearing test for your sausage...

[Riobard]

12 minutes ago, 10tazione said:

You cannot test pleasurable sensation, but you could test sensation, no? Like a hearing test for your sausage...

There’s a rabbit hole somewhere, I’m sure, whose inhabitants have ordered one from UberEats, and prolly a seminar on this tailored just for you.