Midwife Mary Cronk M.B.E. recounts her experiences of midwifery from the mid nineteen fifties when male circumcision was much more common in the United Kingdom. Mary also describes her developing awareness of the harm caused by non-therapeutic genital modification. Genital Autonomy is honoured to have Mary on our board of trustees. Please watch this interview recorded in spring 2013.
The midwife who caused the death of Goodluck Caubergs by a non-therapeutic circumcision was found guilty of “manslaughter by gross negligence” has been sentenced to 21 months in jail suspended for 24 months.
Manchester police described the death as “tragic and unnecessary”
Read more on the BBC web site.
On the 14th of December in Manchester Crown Court. A midwife, Grace Adeleye, was found guilty by a jury of the manslaughter, by gross negligence, of Goodluck Caubergs, a four week old baby boy who died the day after she circumcised him.
The deaths that occur following circumcision are the high profile repercussions of a practice that in all cases (where intervention is not based on medical imperatives) leaves the child’s health compromised.
We call upon the Government to implement the U.N. Convention on The Rights of The Child article 24.3
States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.
In an age when children’s rights are increasingly recognised, the law should protect all children equally regardless of gender, ethnicity or parental belief. The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 discriminates against males and children with atypical genitals by offering them protection inferior to that afforded to females. This neglect of male and intersex children’s rights is particularly striking in the light of The Tattooing of Minors Act 1969, which set an encouragingly low threshold concerning the permanent alteration of a child’s body. It is hard to see how the ablation of a healthy child’s foreskin is in any way less damaging than the deliberate scarification or tattooing of a child. One is led to wonder why the rights of male and intersex children continue to be overlooked. Why is the inevitable harm of non-therapeutic circumcision, and the avoidable deaths which sometimes result, still being tolerated by society?
The documentary on male circumcision by Victor Schonfeld “It’s a boy” is now available to watch on the Distrify video hosting site.
Click on the photo to view the programme.
The symposium in Helsinki was a moving and informative occasion with excellent presentations, organisation and venue. A major highlight for all those concerned with the rights of children was the presentation of Dr Ann Lindboe who is the Norwegian Children’s Ombudsman.
After her presentation she gave this interview to James Loewen and Paul Mason.