Is circumcision child abuse?

Question

After reading the comments on piercing a young child I thought I'd ask this.

There will always be SOME medical reasons for it, and you could possibly argue for it in certain hot climates with poor hygene, but in Europe? America? Girls as well as boys?

Many are saying it depends upon the beliefs of the parents. So if Fred West (for those not in Britain, he and his wife raped and killed both strangers and some of their own children - some of his daughters becoming pregnabt by him) believed it OK to have sex with his young daughters, then that would be ok for him and his family?

Before people go off on one, I'm definitely NOT saying it's right or directly comparable. It is just an EXTREME example (to hopefully create INTELLIGENT discussion) of one person believing one thing is right and another thinking it is abuse.

It may be the law of the land at the moment, but are the governments too scared to be called anti-semitic and anti-muslim? Also, it was once legal for teachers to use leather belts/canes on children/send them down mines at 8 years old; its not now. People would say we're more enlightened now, wouldn't they?

Answer 1

The only bits you should chop off people is their hair and fingernails periodically. Anything else is just mumbo jumbo voodoo nonsense. What is this strange and disturbing obsession with hacking at childrens' genitalia?

Answer 2

It really depends on the parents beliefs at the time (not just religious, but also medical, environmental, etc. etc.). There are benefits at times for circumcision, especially if you live in a poor area and there is little water or medical aid available (and yes sorry to inform you all of this ... there are some very very poor people that live in the US and in Europe ... Africa, Mid East, China, South America do not hold domain over this ... it is a world wide problem). Does it hurt ... from what I was told I screamed for a whole day ... is it amputation ... no ... its removal of skin that doesent necessarily need to be there and if left, and the parent doesn't or can't have the time to properly care for the child (i.e. single mother/father working 3 jobs in a area with very little pay (why they have to work 3 jobs)) the area can become infected and then guess what ... gangrene ... oh yeah ... I wanna wish that on any child...NOT ... so no its not child abuse ... it depends on where you live and the situation that you live it that will dictate your actions as to whether you circumcise a child or not. As for female circumcision ... to tell you the truth that is something that I would call abuse, and degrading to the female, never has been a need for that to be done.

Answer 3

This is a thought-provoking question...

It really does depend on where you were brought up. Our society dictates what we will consider to be abusive or not.

Many people circumcise their male children and consider it to be perfectly normal.

Some people circumcise their female children too, I personally, being a western female, find it appalling, but those who practice it feel just as strongly that it is correct.

Europe and America are now so ethnically mixed that these practices are becoming more common, that does not mean to say that they are either wrong or right. It all depends on where you are standing at the time.

Answer 4

Yes, it is child abuse. Once someone is a certain age then they should be able to choose if and how they want to mutilate their own bodies, but parents should never have their children cut up for no medically necessary reason.

Answer 5

after reading some of the answers i'm not sure if a lot of the europeans on here realise that in america it is the norm for all children and something like 65% of males are circumsised

it's genital mutilation. it makes no difference health wise. there are no good, medical reasons for doing it unless there is a problem

Answer 6

No it is not child abuse, unless you're using a butter knife to do the circumcision. But really, this is really usually based on a person's belief or a medical reason. There are also people that say that circumcision is purely cosmetic. So, to each their own.
I didn't get MY sons circumcised, because I think it is cosmetic, and they should have that choice when they are older.

knightanais: FYI, female circumcision CAN be done. It is when they cut off the clitoris. Eww!

Answer 7

well i think that cultures and religions have the choice to do things like circumsition, but i also think that it is allowed more in different countries for example if female circumcition was performed in india then it wouldnt be such a big deal as if it were in the usa or uk!
but in my opinion i think it is horrible the child should the choice not the parents!!!!

Answer 8

there is no medical reason for it. It is one of the most spread supersticians in the world actually dating back to the ancient Egyptians. It comes from their belief that snakes represent eternal youth because they shed their skin every year. So they believed that if they took some skin off their snake they would also stay younger for longer. I believe the world should finally put this torture practice to rest.

BTW There is no real danger for infection. Where I live no man(except muslims and jews) is circumcised infections are practically unexistant.

Answer 9

RELIGION--If God intended boys to not have "skin" He would have made them so.
http://www.nocirc.org/religion/

HYGIENE--Use a new invention, soap and water!!! Women produce much more “smegma” because of physiologic and anatomical reasons, and how would you feel if they cut your vulva lips??? Women, why don’t you answer my question, are you afraid? Baby girls are more likely to get urinary tract infections and no one suggests we surgically alter them at birth to reduce the risks! Just one of many double standards and laws that always treat men worse.

MEDICAL REASONS--No medical reasons. A extremely small chance of a complication do not justify the removal of the foreskin, if so, why don't we remove the tonsils and the appendix when a child is born, and the chance of complications of the tonsils and the appendix is much greater. Talking about complications, in fact many baby boys die each year from circumcision and related complications.
EVEN if phimosis occurs, instead of chopping it off like barbarians!, use Conservative Treatments like:
-Topical Medication(non-traumatic and non-destructive)
-Dilation and Stretching(non-traumatic and non-destructive)
-Combination treatment(non-traumatic and non-destructive)
-Preputioplasty is the medical term for plastic surgery of the prepuce or foreskin(many methods).
If you want more detail on Conservative Treatments, go here:
http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/

SEX--Foreskin actually enhances the sexual experience for men because it constantly moves over the head of the penis causing more friction and pleasure. Men will also lose much sensitivity to the glans if circumcised.
Circunsized men will have to deal with disconfot and dry glans.
The foreskin have those functions: protective, erogenous, sensory, and sexual physiologic. After all, why would you want to lose all of those “Meissner corpuscles”, the same nerve complexes which provide fine touch to the fingertips?
It is there for many reasons, that is how a man should be(it is natural).
If women like it better circumcised because it looks better(strange, not natural) or gives them more sexual pleasure(strange, not natural), then too bad, they do not have the right! All men do not like mutilated vulvas, and all men like breasts with nipples, they do not like mutilated breasts, etc, etc, etc, because that is the way those organs are supposed to be, it is natural. Interesting, isn’t?!!!

If that was a common practice to do that to baby girls, all the women would be in a big uproar about it(and men too!, men are not like women), but it’s ok to mutilate little boys. The great majority of the ones that agree with circumcision are women for their stupid selfish reasons. Even court cases reported in which mother and father fight because the mother wants to mutilate the son, it is always the mother!. You women should be ashamed to that to your son. Men that are not circumcised, will not get circumcised when adults, they would scream, kick, fight and run, if someone tries to mutilate their privates area, just like you women would run too if someone tried to do that to your labia. Men that where circumcised do not realize what they lost because never had one, and most of them that do realize try to justify it so they do not feel bad about it. Many circumcised men feel very bad emotionally because of what was done to them to such a private area.
It is mutilation of defenceless children in the most private spot, genital mutilation.
It is cruel and barbaric.
It is a human rights violation.
It is not the parent’s decision; it is the parents decision if they want to abuse him, rape him, or to kill him?.
I do not even agree that it is ok if an adult man wants to get circumcised. I think it is wrong, because if a man wants to lose a finger, the Doctor can not do that to him. Think about it, think, think. And by the way, adult men that decide to get circumcised, do it because they know most women like it, they just do it to be more accepted by women.
I think it is just like slavery and all other barbaric acts of the past, it was accepted because it was common practice or tradition, everyone accepted slavery without questioning the facts, but it is not accepted anymore in a modern and fair and civilized society. Circumcision must not be allowed, BY LAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many other reasons not to do it, check it out:
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/
http://www.cirp.org/library/treatment/phimosis/
http://www.noharmm.org/
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/
http://www.circumcisionquotes.com/boydies.html

Answer 10

It is better AND cleaner to get it done when the child is young, then they won't have MANY problems when they get older. A friend of my parents just got circumsized when he was 52, and he was in SEVERE pain afterwards, and was unable to walk.....so it's better to get it done when the child is young....as for Female circumsision that is TOTALLY child abuse and not right at all.