Home » Blogs » Carlin Ross's blog

Circumcision is a “Severe & Irreversible Interference into Physical Integrity.”

Thu, 06/28/2012 - 03:58
Submitted by Carlin Ross

Betty, Karen (our intern from Copenhagen) and I are sitting in our hotel room celebrating the recent genital integrity victory in Germany.

The District Court in Cologne ruled that parents having their sons circumcised can be prosecuted for causing bodily injury - according to their ruling "neither the rights of parents nor the constitutional freedom of religion can justify circumcision".

The prosecutor's office learned of a case where a four year old boy who'd been circumcised was brought into the emergency room with complications and decided to take the parents to court.

University of Passau jurist Holm Putzke told the FTD the decision could have far-reaching ramifications:

“As opposed to many politicians, the court was not deterred by fears of being criticized for anti-Semitism or hostility toward religion,” he said. “This decision could not only influence future jurisdiction, it could also lead the relevant religions to change their attitude with respect to the fundamental nature of children’s rights".

Oh what a day! Thank you, mssaigon73 for the link.

And I wanted to include this powerful video.  When my sister was pregnant, I sent it out to every member of my family.  I knew that if it was a boy I would have a fight on my hands - they needed to have the information.  Thankfully, she had a girl.

We Suggest: 
Male Circumcision: Mothers, Don’t Mutilate Your Boys
Russell Crowe: Circumcision is Barbaric
Conversations About Circumcision are Really Important
"A Remedy for Masturbation Almost Always Successful in Small Boys: Circumcision"
Sex, Politics & More Sex

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Irreversible, Damaging "Violence" Against Children

Joelface's picture
Thu, 06/28/2012 - 05:28
Joelface

What I really love about the news coming out of Germany is that the focus is on Human Rights.. on Bodily Integrity.. on the RIGHTS of the child.

That is so important. It represents a shift to a very critical discussion that has so often been ignored in North America (often replacing it with the generic "What's Better In Bed" discussion that ignores the whole issue).

I think that a really important point was made here:

"After the knee-jerk outrage has faded away, hopefully a discussion will begin about how much religiously motivated violence against children a society is ready to tolerate,” said Holm Putzke, a criminal law expert at the University of Passau. He noted that the ruling was not binding for other courts, but could send a welcome signal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/world/europe/german-court-rules-against-circumcising-boys.html

Great Video You Shared, Carlin.

Joelface's picture
Thu, 06/28/2012 - 05:37
Joelface

I wanted to especially thank you, Carlin, for posting that YouTube video "Elephant in the Hospital" in this post.

It is a very well done video that I believe really gets to the heart of the matter as well, and contains some information that most people would really, really benefit from hearing.

I'm so glad to hear that you took the step of sharing the video with each member of your family when your sister became pregnant. Even though she had a girl in the end, I think that your method should be celebrated. That is a great way to begin a discussion with family and friends, and it's a REALLY, REALLY easy way to make a difference in an issue like this one, where many people aren't sure how to begin advocating for the bodily integrity of young children.

Thank you! I'm so glad that you two are such big supporters of this issue. It makes such a difference!

Yes

Thu, 06/28/2012 - 05:43
Jake E

A vote here from me for the conclusion of the post, it is an assault. 

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.