South Africa passes partial ban on circumcision for children under 16

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2007-07-02 13:55

Article here.

I say partial ban because exemptions exist for traditions and religious purposes. Still a move in the right direction. Also to my knowledge South Africa doesn't widely practice female circumcision, so this seems legitimately aimed towards males. Excerpt:

'Under 16s may not be tested for virginity or be circumcised, unless required by tradition or religion. A child is now regarded as an adult at 18, and no longer 21. This means 18-year-olds can now get into contractual agreements without parental consent. The section dealing with corporal punishment requires regulations and the act should be complete by March next year.'

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Comments

A small but good step, especially given the attention that South Africa's AIDS situation is receiving, and with the debunked studies on circumcision and AIDS still having impact. Even with the exceptions, this sends a message.

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Submitted by Marc A. on Tue, 2007-07-03 05:00

it sends the wrong message - that religion and tradition are still above bodily integrity of boys.

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Submitted by n.j. on Tue, 2007-07-03 21:20

Yes but it applies that way to both sexes. I agree that religion and tradition should not trump bodily rights of children, but that's a religion/bodily integrity issue not a gender issue. I'm happy that this new law generally forbidding the practice absent cultural mandate treats male and female circumcision the same, unlike most laws that forbid only female circumcision. This does send a powerful message, gender-wise. It tells the world that boys need protection too. I would much rather this weakened law than the ones in the U.S. that don't allow cultural excelptions but that only forbid female circumcision. From a MRA perspective, that is definitely progress, and our victories are going to come in increments, whether we like it or not. It's a reality. So I celebrate the increments. There are many feminist-driven anti-circ groups that only address female circ and downplay the seriousness of male circ, even though male circ is gynecologically equivalent to removal of the clitoral hood. This law says FU to that attitude.

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Submitted by Marc A. on Wed, 2007-07-04 01:01

because female circ is universally banned in South Africa.
Also, I firmly believe the analogy with the clitoral hood is flawed. Most importantly, the counterpart to the sensitive spot between clitoris and labia gets destroyed (frenulum breve at the dorsal side of the penis).

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Submitted by n.j. on Fri, 2007-07-06 02:08