Understanding Circumcision

Every year, in the United States and the third world combined, 13.3 million boys and 2 million girls are circumcised. Whether because of perceived medical, cultural, or religious necessity, most of these parents feel they have no alternative but to allow their children to undergo this surgery. Sparking intense debate, the circumcision of children is a highly controversial and complex phenomenon that touches a variety of sociological areas, such as religious beliefs, identity issues, medical conceptualizations, fear, and superstition. The contributors to this volume comprise an international panel of experts in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, ethics, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, and politics. In 18 chapters they discuss the history of circumcision; document the physical and psychological consequences of circumcision; present the latest anatomical discoveries about the male prepuce; analyze the role of circumcision in various traditions; reveal the medical industry's investment in the practice; describe current legislative efforts to protect children from circumcision; and outline effective, culturally sensitive methods that are being implemented today to safeguard the human rights of at-risk children.
For its insights into this troubling aspect of culture, Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem is a critically important contribution to the growing body of literature on this subject.

Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Genital Integrity: Safeguarding Fundamental Human Rights in the 21st Century, held December 7-9, 2000, in Sydney, Australia.

1. Ending the Forced Genital Cutting of Children and the Violation of their Human Rights: Ethical, Psychological and Legal Considerations.- 2. Jewish Circumcision: An Enigma in Historical Perspective.- 3. The Compulsion to Circumcise is Constant: The Reasons Keep Changing.- 4. Male Circumcision in South Korea: History, Statistics, and the Role of Doctors in Creating a Circumcision Rate of Over 100%.- 5. Attitudes of Egyptian Intellectuals Towards Genital Integrity for All.- 6. Sunna Gudnin: An Alternative Ritual to Infibulation in Merka Somalia.- 7. The Struggle Against Female Genital Mutilation/Female Circumcision: The European Experience.- 8. A Review of Circumcision in New Zealand: 'I never liked doing them and I was pleased to give them up'.- 9. Circumcision of Boys in Sweden: Proposal for Government Regulation.- 10. "A Source of Serious Mischief:" The Demonization of the Foreskin and the Rise of Preventive Circumcision in Australia.- 11. The Frenular Delta: A New Preputial Structure.- 12. Physical, Sexual, and Psychological Effects of Male Infant Circumcision: An Exploratory Survey.- 13. Neonatal Circumcision: Its Long-Term Harmful Effects.- 14. Ritual and Medical Circumcision among Filipino Boys: Evidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.- 15. Assaulted and Mutilated: A Personal Account of Circumcision Trauma.- 16. Doctors, Be Warned: Circumcise Today, and You Could Be Sued Tomorrow.- 17. The Limits of the Law: Comparative Analysis of Legal and Extralegal Methods to Control Child Body Mutilation Practices.- 18. Circumcision as a Component of the Normative Abuse of Children: Introducing the Proclamation for Transforming the Lives of Children.- APPENDIX: Resources.- Contributors.