Author: Kate Goldie Townsend, University of Exeter
At the time of writing in mid-2021, policy on child genital cutting and modification is inconsistent in the UK, US, and most European states, and there is growing consensus that this inconsistency should end [1–10]. The question addressed here, is whether Western liberal democracies ought to discourage, if not legally prohibit, all forms of medically unnecessary child genital cutting and modification, or permit some relatively minor forms. Given the core political values of Western liberal democracies, including a commitment to human rights, this piece takes a liberal normative approach and argues that individual rights to bodily – and especially genital – integrity should take priority over group rights if they come into conflict…
You can read or download the entire paper here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356740121_Defending_an_inclusive_right_to_genital_and_bodily_integrity_for_children
And a little postscript from Patricia:
If parents, religious and medical personnel would allow themselves to stop, close their eyes, take a breath, ask themselves sincere questions and listen within for honest answers, circumcision would end in a heartbeat. When someone at last sees the child as a beautiful, perfect creation, no one could harm him (or her) in any way.
The fact that the cruel practice of circumcision has endured for millennia, and is celebrated even today, indicates that a powerful form of social mind-control that convinces parents to close their hearts and allow their children to be sexually abused.
Love, awe, compassion and protection are the normal, appropriate attitudes adults have toward the miracle we call a child. For adults to prey on children for pleasure or profit is foreign and abhorrent to human nature.