We the undersigned call on the the government, the police, policy makers, the child protection agencies, community leaders and the medical authorities to protect all children and stop the circumcision of non-consenting children.
Tim Bourner,
Circumcision is not the benign procedure once thought. The inner foreskin is now known to be the most sensitive part of the penis - most of which is removed by circumcision. Children should be protected from this invasive act.
Andrew Knight,
Circumcision of anyone should be illegal except for medical reasons, requiring substantial proof that it is effective. It should be a last resort. Circumcision should be treated like FGM, it's completely immoral and abhorent.
xxxxxxxx,
The failure of my professional representatives in the BMA and RCGP to condemn the ritual genital mutilation of children is cowardly and shaming to us all.
Matthew Hanger,
Patrick Smyth,
I wholeheartedly support the principle that infant males should enjoy the same statutory protection from unnecessary genital surgery that females currently enjoy. I was circumcised unnecessarily during infancy and feel strongly that my quality of life and sense of well-being has been impaired as a result.
Geoff Coates,
My circumcision at birth was botched and I very nearly lost my penis altogether. As a result, I now bear additional scaring from where it was sewn back on. I happen to be among the class people who scar heavily when cut and as a consequence my penis looks even more deform than if subject to a normal circumcision. How can I expect others to feel good about me If I can’t feel good about myself?
xxxxxxxx,
I have always hated the fact that I've been circumcised, since age 12, the moment I found out it was done to me as an infant without my consent. Every time I shower, change clothes, make love, and all my most private moments, I am confronted with the fact that my most personal parts can never be whole. I've had depression since that day, and diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Except my trauma will never go away, because I can never be whole again. No one had any right to do this to me.
Joseph S. Cusati,
I was circumcised at the age of 4 1/2. My parents dropped me off at the hospital with an intact,healthy penis and I left the hospital after the surgery with a penis as numb as can be-- My penis is numb today as it was immediately after the operation. I am now 55 years old. It destroyed my confidence with women and has caused me great suffering and lonliness all my life. I never married. My few dating experiences as a teenager were a disaster. In all other aspects, I am a very masculine fellow-- no one could understand why I was such a failure with women. I was always afraid to tell my parents of my mutilation because I was so angry I was afraid I would have killed them. The circumcision very effectively rendered me useless as a man. Every aspect of my life was negatively affected by the operation. Circumcision is a great crime to the body and the spirit of a man. Thank you for your work and your time. Joe Cusati
Matthew Hayes,
The fact that the circumcision of boys for purely aesthetic and religious reasons is still legal in this country is something that we should be truly ashamed of. It is a damning indictment against both the BMA and UK government that this situation is allowed to continue.
Sue Christopher,
