lunedì 31 dicembre 2012

JAKARTA: governo vuole la fine delle FGM






The Jakarta Post December 2012

Govt told to stop female circumcision

As the United Nations has adopted a resolution urging member states to ban female genital mutilation, the government has been told it has no choice but to revoke a Health Ministry regulation issued in 2010 that condones female circumcision.

National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) deputy chairwoman Masruchah said that the 2010 ministerial regulation runs counter to the UN resolution because it legalizes a practice that is harmful to the sexual and reproductive health of women.

The UN General Assembly unanimously approved the resolution, which is not legally binding, on Thursday, urging its 193 member states to enforce legislation that prohibits female genital circumcision.

The 2010 Health Ministry regulation stipulates that female circumcision is allowed as long as it is performed by licensed doctors, nurses or midwives.

“We have consistently pushed the ministry to revoke that regulation because it abuses the reproductive rights of women. This practice stems from the erroneous interpretation of cultural and religious teachings,” Masruchah told The Jakarta Post.

Many Indonesians, she said, believed that female circumcision could control the sexual desires of girls.

Instead of providing health benefits, female genital mutilation can cause severe bleeding, urination problems and can lead to complications during childbirth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Health Ministry website claims that female circumcision, as stipulated in the regulation, cannot be categorized as female genital mutilation.

The regulation stipulates that “female circumcision is an action of incising the skin that covers the front part of clitoris, without harming the clitoris”.

The Indonesian Doctors Association chairman, Zaenal Abidin, said that the association would study the UN resolution and that they would issue a recommendation related to female circumcision.

“The association cannot make any recommendations unilaterally. We will involve religious scholars and communities in the deliberations. We will also study the suggestions from the WHO and international doctors’ associations,” he said.

...

Indonesian General Practitioners Association member Enrico Renaldi, who believes that female circumcision is unnecessary and harmful, said that medical practitioners in the country were facing challenges in preventing the practice.

“It is hard for doctors to be agents of change. There are strong pros and cons in the matter. Indonesians, particularly those in rural areas, see female circumcision as a necessity,” Enrico said.

Iffah Ainur Rochmah, the spokesperson for the Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), rebuffed the negative assumptions about female circumcision practices in Indonesia.

“This is a part of our culture rooted in Islamic teachings. The practice should be carried out through procedures that will not cause health implications,” she said.

Iffah called on the global community, including the UN, to not liken Islamic female circumcision with the unhygienic and inhumane practice of female genital mutilation.

She explained that Islam teachings regulated female circumcision as a minor incision of the skin that covers the front part of the clitoris.
...

giovedì 27 dicembre 2012

EASTERN CAPE: 15 morti nell'ultimo mese



EASTERN CAPE: Circumcision deaths resume: 15 this season

Eastern Cape officials to meet on circumcision deaths

Officials from the national department of health will meet with local leaders and officials on Friday to discuss the deaths of young boys after circumcision.

The department will meet with the Eastern Cape MEC for health Sicelo Gqobana, the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders and local government departments in Bhisho, said provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo.

This meeting follows the death of a boy in Mzimvubu this week.

He was the 15th boy to die as a result of a botched circumcision this season. [Apart from his death, how was his circumcision different from one that wasn't "botched"?]

In June, a total of 49 boys died while undergoing initiation in the mountains.

"The national department of health is expected to present a plan to the province and then there will be discussions that will seek to bring an end to the problem," Kupelo said.

FONTE: http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/12/2...umcision-deaths

martedì 25 dicembre 2012

Buon Natale a tutti

domenica 23 dicembre 2012

UN: circoncisione non previene hiv



UNITED NATIONS: Circumcision not important in preventing HIV

New H.I.V. Cases Falling in Some Poor Nations, but Treatment Still Lags

By Donald G. McNeil

New infections with H.I.V. have dropped by half in the past decade in 25 poor and middle-income countries, many of them in Africa, the continent hardest hit by AIDS, the United Nations said Tuesday.

The greatest success has been in preventing mothers from infecting their babies, but focusing testing and treatment on high-risk groups like gay men, prostitutes and drug addicts has also paid dividends, said Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the agency U.N.AIDS.

“We are moving from despair to hope,” he said.

Despite the good news from those countries, the agency’s annual report showed that globally, progress is steady but slow. By the usual measure of whether the fight against AIDS is being won, it is still being lost: 2.5 million people became infected last year, while only 1.4 million received lifesaving treatment for the first time.

“There has been tremendous progress over the last decade, but we’re still not at the tipping point,” said Mitchell Warren, the executive director of AVAC, an advocacy group for AIDS prevention. “And the big issue, sadly, is money.”

Some regions, like Southern Africa and the Caribbean, are doing particularly well, while others, like Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, are not. Globally, new infections are down 22 percent from 2001, when there were 3.2 million. Among newborns, they fell 40 percent, to 330,000 from 550,000.

The two most important financial forces in the fight, the multinational Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the domestic President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, were both created in the early 2000s and last year provided most of the $16.8 billion spent on the disease. But the need will soon be $24 billion a year, the groups said.

“Where is that money going to come from?” Mr. Warren asked.

The number of people living with H.I.V. rose to a new high of 34 million in 2011, while the number of deaths from AIDS was 1.7 million, down from a peak of 2.3 million in 2005. As more people get life-sustaining antiretroviral treatment, the number of people living with H.I.V. grows.

Globally, the number of people on antiretroviral drugs reached 8 million, up from 6.6 million in 2010. However, an additional 7 million are sick enough to need them. The situation is worse for children; 72 percent of those needing pediatric antiretrovirals do not get them.

New infections fell most drastically since 2001 in Southern Africa — by 71 percent in Botswana, 58 percent in Zambia and 41 percent in South Africa, which has the world’s biggest epidemic.

But countries with drops greater than 50 percent were as geographically diverse as Barbados, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, India and Papua New Guinea. [...where circumcision is not prevalent.]

The most important factor, Mr. Sidibé said, was not nationwide billboard campaigns to get people to use condoms or abstain from sex. Nor was it male circumcision, a practice becoming more common in Africa. There is no scientific evidence that male circumcision cuts Hiv infection risk .

Rather, it was focusing treatment on high-risk groups. While saving babies is always politically popular, saving gay men, drug addicts and prostitutes is not, so presidents and religious leaders often had to be persuaded to help them. Much of Mr. Sidibé’s nearly four years in his post has been spent doing just that.

Many leaders are now taking “a more targeted, pragmatic approach,” he said, and are “not blocking people from services because of their status.”

Fast-growing epidemics are often found in countries that criminalize behavior. For example, homosexuality is illegal in many Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa, so gay and bisexual men, who get many of the new infections, cannot admit being at risk. The epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are driven by heroin, and in those countries, methadone treatment is sometimes illegal.

Getting people on antiretroviral drugs makes them 96 percent less likely to infect others, studies have found, so treating growing numbers of people with AIDS has also helped prevent new infections.

Ethiopia’s recruitment of 35,000 community health workers, who teach young people how to protect themselves, has also aided in prevention.

...

Medici stranieri vogliono circoncisione rituale

Medici stranieri chiedono al governo: “Circoncisione in strutture pubbliche e tra prestazioni del servizio sanitario nazionale”

Tra le proposte avanzate dall’Associazione Medici Stranieri (Amsi) al governo, avanzate al ministro per la cooperazione Andrea Riccardi e al presidente della Camera Gianfranco Fini, c’è anche l’inserimento della circoncisione tra le prestazioni del servizio sanitario nazionale. I medici stranieri, tramite il presidente Foad Aodi, chiedono che la circoncisione possa essere effettuata “presso strutture autorizzate a garanzia dei bambini e delle loro famiglie, dietro pagamento di un ticket”.

L’Amsi, con un appello sostenuto anche da Comai (Comunità del Mondo Arabo in Italia), aveva già chiesto a dicembre al ministro della Sanità Renato Balduzzi di “dare la possibilità ai genitori stranieri che vivono in Italia di rivolgersi alle strutture pubbliche per effettuare la circoncisione sui loro piccoli”.

I medici stranieri in Italia sono circa 14.500. Ma pochi sono assunti negli ospedali pubblici perché i concorsi sono riservati a cittadini italiani e della Comunità europea. Lavorano quindi soprattutto come privati.
 
 
Cassazione: “Circoncisione, mancato ricorso al medico è scusabile”

La Cassazione, con la sentenza 43646/11 ha sancito che è un “errore scusabile” non ricorrere al medico per far circoncidere un bambino causando a quest’ultimo una emorragia grave. La Corte ha trattato il caso di una donna di origine africana che ha fatto praticare la circoncisione del figlio ad un uomo, che non era medico. Il neonato, di otto mesi, aveva perso molto sangue ed era stato portato all’ospedale. Dove la donna aveva candidamente ammesso le sue responsabilità.

Ma la Cassazione non ha ritenuto la madre colpevole del reato di esercizio abusivo della professione medica. La donna era stata condannata anche in appello. Ha fatto quindi ricorso in Cassazione, che le ha dato ragione, scriveva ieri Il Sole 24 Ore. Per la Corte, la donna non aveva la percezione né un grado di cultura tale da farle comprendere che stava compiendo un reato. Occorre inoltre considerare il “difettoso accordo che si determina in una persona di etnia africana, che migrata in Italia, non è risultata essere ancora integrata nel relativo tessuto sociale e l’ordinamento giuridico del nostro Paese”. Rispetto all’infibulazione, la circoncisione secondo la Corte non incide nella “intimità e nella decenza sessuale della persona”.

Valentino Salvatore

sabato 22 dicembre 2012

Onu, risoluzione contro le mutilazioni genitali femminili





Onu, risoluzione contro le mutilazioni genitali femminili

L’assemblea generale dell’Onu ha approvato ieri la risoluzione per mettere al bando le mutilazioni genitali femminili. Gli stati membri sono esortati ad adottare tutte le misure necessarie per proteggere le donne e le ragazze da questo “abuso irreparabile e irreversibile” e a mettere fine all’impunità. Secondo Amnesty International, circa 3 milioni di giovani subiscono mutilazioni di questo tipo ogni anno. La proposta è stata depositata dal gruppo dei paesi africani e sottoscritta dai due terzi dell’assemblea. Dall’Onu arriva quindi un risultato importante e apprezzabile, un passo avanti per salvaguardare la salute e il corpo delle donne, quindi il rispetto dei loro diritti.

UNICEF_G.Pirozzi_00055

Le forme di mutilazione genitale maschile non vengono tuttavia prese in considerazione da questa risoluzione, in un periodo storico in cui diversi paesi occidentali hanno sollevato critiche verso la circoncisione rituale. C’è ancora quindi tanto da fare per arginare l’imposizione ai bambini di pratiche rituali, fortemente radicate a livello culturale e anche religioso.

domenica 16 dicembre 2012

Ministro salute malese vuole escissione medica



MALAYSIA: Health Ministry wants "medical" female cutting

Malaysia storm over female circumcision

Audio: Activist Azrul Mohamad Khalib speaks to Connect Asia about female circumcision in Malaysia (ABC News)

www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-07/acti...connect/4415044

Debate is raging in Malaysia over Muslim female genital mutilation as the country's health ministry reportedly develops guidelines to reclassify it as a medical practice.

In 2009, the Fatwa Committee of Malaysia's National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs ruled that "female circumcision", as it has become known, was obligatory for Muslims but if harmful must be avoided.

Human rights activist Azrul Mohamad Khalib has written a scathing commentary calling for abolition of the practice.

He says it has no religious or medical benefits.

But according to the results of a university survey the practice is widespread, with more than 90 per cent of Malay Muslim female respondents reporting they have been circumcised.

Azrul Mohamad Khalib told Radio Australia's Connect Asia: "It certainly is a surprising figure, really. The study involves more than 1,000 female respondents and when we look at it, around 90 per cent or so are Malay Muslims."

Disappointing
Azrul Mohamad Khalib is also communications and resource mobilisation adviser of the SPRINT project with the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

He said that to have anecdotal evidence "captured" in the study is really "both surprising and a little bit disappointing".

What about the suggestion that the health ministry may be about to register the practice?

He said: "One of the things I find quite alarming with regards to this development is that the Ministry of Health is actually depending on a fatwa, a religious opinion that was actually issued by the national fatwa council, in which they made it obligatory, or 'wajib', for all Muslim women to be circumcised.

"It seems that the Ministry of Health is now (instituting) that fatwa.

"So, in contrary to quite a number of best practices as well as a WHO (World Health Organisation) advisory, the Ministry of Health is taking steps now to sort of make it standardised, or medicalised, in such a way that it might be applied to all public health-care facilities."

At the moment the practice is carried out generally by traditional practitioners, as well as private health practitioners, the activist said.

"One of the things that those working on gender issues in Malaysia have come to realise is that a barrier when we deal with these sort of issues is the lack of awareness - the 'why' of such practices and how harmful it can be.

"Certainly when it comes to female circumcision, the position that has been taken is that if it does do no harm why not do it? Well . . . if there are no benefits to doing it, why do it?

"One of the first steps that we are trying to push out forward is that we are very much trying to spread awareness that such practices are unnecessary.

"They're not required by religion, they're not having any medical benefits whatsoever and certainly when we look at it it's strictly cultural in its entirety.

"But as you mentioned, it is going to be extremely hard if more than 90 per cent of the Malay Muslim population already practising it."

domenica 25 novembre 2012

Orologi Natalizi








































lunedì 19 novembre 2012

Circoncisione: intesa con gli islamici?



«Serve un’intesa con la comunità islamica»

El Marouaki (Mondo Insieme): è un tema da affrontare. Dura la condanna dell’assessore Corradini

«E’ una questione da affrontare. Serve un protocollo d’intesa con la comunità musulmana, così come esiste con quella ebraica affinché le persone possano rivolgersi al servizio pubblico».

E’ Adil El Marouakhi di “Mondo Insieme” a spiegarci cosa è la circoncisione religiosa. E perché possono accadere episodi gravissimi come quello registrato in città.

«La circoncisione è come un atto che i musulmani hanno ereditato dalla religione ebraica – spiega – Bisognerebbe riuscire a costruire un percorso che porti alla luce queste pratiche e permetta di affrontarle, in un contenitore dove ci sia anche l’Ausl. Così come avviene in altri Paesi europei, come in Francia dove le persone sono messe nelle condizioni di potersi rivolgere alle cliniche e sostenere con il servizio pubblico le spese dell’intervento». Come viene affrontata la cosa, ad esempio in una città come Reggio? Le famiglie di religione musulmana in che modo sottopongono i loro figli all’intervento della circoncisione? «Ci sono persone che vanno al di là del confine, ad esempio a Nizza, per far circoncidere i propri figli. Altri, lo fanno quando ritornano per le vacanze nella terra d’origine. Oppure altri – prosegue – come in questo caso, può succedere che tentino di farlo a casa, pensando di fare bene. Ma credo che il caso di questa coppia ghanese sia un’eccezione».

Per Adil El Maroukhi in Italia c’è un vuoto. «In altri Paesi, la questione è stata affrontata – sottolinea – E anche in Italia dovrebbe essere fatto, attraverso un tavolo che metta insieme la comunità religiosa e quella pubblica. Perché la questione vera è la tutela dei bambini che vengono sottoposti a questa pratica, senza che debbano correre rischi inutili».

Il dibattito è comunque aperto. E fa i conti anche con una parte di comunità medica, invece, che ritiene che tale pratica sia pericolosa e traumatica.

Chi esprime forte condanna per è quanto accaduto è l’assessore comunale all’Immigrazione, Franco Corradini.

«Condanniamo queste pratiche clandestine – sono le sue parole – perché questo significa mettere a repentaglio la salute delle persone. Il rispetto delle regole è importante» Prosegue l’amministratore: «Quanto è successo non trova alcuna giustificazione, perché è fuori dalle leggi».



FONTE: http://gazzettadireggio.gelocal.it/cronaca...amica-1.5949085

sabato 17 novembre 2012

Link Utili

LOCAL CHAPTERS
Looking to get involved? Help someone out? Or seeking community for yourself or your family? There are oodles of families gathering around important peaceful parenting related subjects today - if you're a mom who would like to donate milk, or needs milk, find your local Human Milk 4 Human Babies or Eats on Feets chapters. If you're an intact advocate who'd like to become more involved in baby-saving efforts around you, check out your area's Intact Chapter. Want to dive in and gather up other peaceful parenting families? Find or start a local Peaceful Parenting Network (PPN) chapter in your area. The opportunities for outreach are unlimited,  so join together with someone nearby. We are empowering globally, connecting locally. [Note: neither Human Milk 4 Human Babies or Eats on Feets is associated with or run by DrMomma.org, but we do support the peaceful parenting efforts of our fellow advocates.]


The Peaceful Parenting Network [Chapters focus on a wide range of parenting topics. Emphasis is on local community, local action, and in-person meet-ups among peaceful parenting families.]


Human Milk 4 Human Babies [Chapters focus exclusively on mother-to-mother milk sharing.]


Eats on Feets [Chapters focus exclusively on mother-to-mother milk sharing.]


The Intact Network [Chapters focus exclusively on intact information distribution and local action.]
www.IntactNetwork.org
www.Facebook.com/TheIntactNetwork


The following are current chapters of the Peaceful Parenting Network (PPN) and The Intact Network (TIN) by country and alphabetically by state/province:


UNITED STATES


Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


PUERTO RICO

BRITAIN


CANADA
Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest Territories
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon




Intact Chapters of Special Interest: 


martedì 6 novembre 2012

La circoncisione influisce in negativo sulla sessualità



Male circumcision leads to a bad sex life

Circumcised men have more difficulties reaching orgasm, and their female partners experience more vaginal pains and an inferior sex life, a new study shows.

If a man is circumcised, he faces an increased risk of experiencing delayed orgasm, and his female partner has an increased risk of not feeling sexually fulfilled.

This is the clear-cut conclusion of a new Danish research article, which has received international attention.

Some 5,000 sexually active men and women were surveyed about their experiences and possible problems with their sex lives. With a specific focus on circumcised men and their women, the results are startling.

“Circumcised men are three times as likely to experience a frequent inability to reach an orgasm,” says one of the researchers, Associate Professor Morten Frisch from Danish research enterprise SSI.


Research into the effects on women is unique

This is one of only a few studies of the sexual consequences of male circumcision, and in one area in particular it is groundbreaking:

“Previous studies into male circumcision have looked at the effects it has on the men. But scientists have never really studied the effects this has on the women's sex lives,” says Frisch.

“It appears that women with circumcised men are twice as likely to be sexually frustrated. They experience a three-fold risk of frequent difficulties in achieving orgasm, and an eight-fold risk of feeling pain during intercourse – also known as dyspareunia.”



Circumcised men prefer it rough

There appears to be a very simple reason why circumcised men and their partners are having problems with their sex lives.

The circumcised man develops a thin layer of hard skin on his penis head, which decreases the sensitivity. This means that in order to reach an orgasm, he needs to work harder at it, and that can lead to a painful experience for the woman.

“We conducted a survey, but the data does not explain why these problems occur. There are, however, some good suggestions in the scientific literature,” he explains.

When the penis enters the vagina, the foreskin is pulled back. And on its way out again, the foreskin goes back to cover the penis head. This way the foreskin stimulates both the man and the woman.

The gliding in-and-out movement of the foreskin, combined with the in-and-out movement inside the vagina, constitutes what is known as ‘the gliding movement’.

“When a circumcised man moves in and out of a woman without 'the gliding movement' caused by the foreskin, it can have a painful effect on the woman's mucous membrane. This could explain the pain and the tendency towards dryness that some women with circumcised men experience.”

CITAZIONE
In the U.S. some 50 percent of all boys are circumcised.

Circumcision is – or rather has been – common in many English-speaking countries. This is due to a trend from the Victorian age where doctors recommended that boys should be circumcised as this would make it more difficult to masturbate.

At the time, masturbation was thought to lead to a long list of problems, including mental illness and typhus.

Sources of error were filtered out

A vast majority of the circumcised men in the study were circumcised based on a doctor's estimate.

“Only five percent of all Danish men are circumcised, yet we have statistically valid evidence that male circumcision can be associated with sexual problems.

The study did not involve many religiously circumcised men – Jews and Muslims, for example. But even with these factors taken into account, the data pointed in the same direction. The statistical analyses also took a long list of additional relevant factors into account, including:

Age
Cultural background
Religious background
Marital status
Levels of education
Household income
Age at first intercourse
Number of sex partners
Frequency of sexual activity with one partner in the past year

“We adjusted for all these factors in an attempt to ensure that circumcision is the actual cause, and that the link isn’t attributable to other factors.”

Bottom-line results were clear
Frisch mentions an example of how things get muddled up if researchers do not adjust for possible sources of error when they work with statistics:

“If, for instance, you look at people who drink lots of beer, you'll see that they face an increased risk of developing lung cancer, compared to those who don't drink much,” he says. “But it's not the drinking itself that causes the lung cancer. There just happens to be a correlation between drinking and smoking, and it is actually the smoking that causes the lung cancer.”

These kinds of error sources were taken into account, and the bottom-line results were clear:

“We’re seeing a consistent picture. Even though most circumcised men – and their women – do not have problems with their sex lives, there is a significantly larger group of circumcised men and their female partners who experience frequent problems in achieving orgasm, compared to couples where the man is not circumcised.”

In addition, there are significantly more women with circumcised men, who experience vaginal pains during intercourse or feel that their sexual needs are not met.


Further studies needed

Frisch hopes this new study will be replicated by researchers in other countries and cultures.

“That way we can ascertain whether this phenomenon applies to Danes only or whether it extends into other cultures too,” he says. “All in all, I have a humble approach to our findings, so I would also like to see whether other Danish studies would reach the same conclusions.”


Study resonates internationally

According to Frisch, the study has received a great deal of international attention. For example, he has been contacted by politicians in California, who are very pleased with the results of the study because they want to ban circumcision in their federal state.

Others are less excited, saying the research is controversial.

“This is a highly sensitive issue, and some people oppose the publication of this kind of research. Some people have actually tried to stop the publication of our article,” he explains.

A question of ethics
Certain groups and individuals are lobbying in favour circumcising all men, explains Frisch.

CITAZIONE
Narrowed foreskin is popularly known as ‘Spanish Collar’ and scientifically as ‘phimosis’.

For half a century, large surveys have shown that problems with phimosis sort themselves out in childhood for up to 99% of boys. Nevertheless, this condition is still being used as a major argument for routine circumcision in many countries.




FONTE: http://videnskab.dk/krop-sundhed/omskaerin...-darligt-sexliv

lunedì 5 novembre 2012

Child Welfare Organization contro circoncisione


Finnish Child Welfare Organization Issues Position Statement Denouncing Male Circumcision
The Central Union for Child Welfare in Finlandia è una organizzazione fondata nel 1937 di cui fanno parte oltre 85 organizzazioni non governative e 33 comuni finlandesi. In agosto hanno rilasciato la seguente dichiarazione sulla circoncisione maschile infantile:

Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland
Position Statement on the Circumcision of Boys

Presentato al Ministero degli Affari sociali e della Sanità (STM060)

L'Unione Centrale per il benessere dei bambini in Finlandia ritiene che la circoncisione dei ragazzi viola l'integrità fisica e la dignità personale dei bambini e non è accettabile a meno che non venga eseguita per ragioni mediche. In ogni società deve esserci rispetto incondizionato per l'integrità fisica e genitale di soggetti minorenni.

La circoncisione viola i diritti del bambino e l’integrità fisica e sessuale di un figlio maschio, è un trauma, causa un cambiamento permanente nel suo organismo e ha conseguenze gravissime riguardanti la salute e la sua qualità della vita.

Secondo il parere dell'Unione centrale per il benessere dei bambini in Finlandia nessuno ha il diritto, a nome del bambino, a consentire a una procedura che, violando l'integrità fisica del bambino, non è fatta per motivi medici o per curare una malattia.

Secondo il Child Welfare Act Il bambino ha diritto a una protezione speciale. La legge tutela il diritto all’integrità fisica dei bambini e altresì ne vieta, da parte dei genitori o di chi ne ha la custodia, ogni forma di maltrattamento o di umiliazione.

La Costituzione garantisce il diritto all'integrità fisica. La legge dello Stato e la Costituzione esplicitamente dichiara che la libertà di religione non dà diritto [a qualcuno] di violare l'integrità fisica di un'altra persona. Essa afferma inoltre che un bambino deve essere trattato e considerato come una singola persona che ha tutti i diritti fondamentali, sin dalla sua nascita.

Pregiudizio, o qualunque cosa possa causare intenzionalmente del dolore a un bambino è definita nel diritto penale come violenza ed è punibile dalla legge. La Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti del fanciullo che la Finlandia ha ratificato dice che gli Stati devono adottare ogni misura efficace atta ad abolire le pratiche tradizionali pregiudizievoli per la salute dei bambini.

Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine that Finland has signed and that that is prepared to be ratified, states that an intervention may only be carried out on a person who does not have the capacity to consent, for his or her direct benefit.


The position of the Central Union for Child Welfare is that no law allowing the circumcision of boys shall be decreed.

La posizione dell'Unione centrale per il benessere dei bambini è che nessuna legge che consente la circoncisione dei ragazzi possa venir mai decretata. (o discussa in Finlandia).

The Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland hopes that the working group in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will consider measures to bring about a cultural change that will secure the integrity of children and leads to the end of circumcision.

L'Unione Centrale per il benessere dei bambini in Finlandia spera che il gruppo di lavoro presso il ministero degli Affari sociali e della Sanità prenderà in considerazione misure volte a portare ad un cambiamento culturale che garantirà l'integrità fisica dei bambini e condurrà alla fine della pratica della circoncisione .

Circumcision can only be allowed to independent major persons, both women and men, after it has been ascertained that the person in question wants it of his or her own free will and he or she has not been subjected to pressure.


Position Statement on the Circumcision of Boys. Helsinki: Central Union for Child Welfare



Partito finlandese prevede nuovo disegno di legge per vietare la circoncisione
Ottobre 2012
True Finns, il secondo partito per importanza del paese, vuole con urgenza una legge che vieti la circoncisione rituale di minori.

In un dibattito tenutosi il 26 settembre scorso al Parlamento finlandese a Helsinki, Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, leader parlamentare di True Finns, ha ribadito, come già aveva fatto in marzo, di voler andare avanti per vietare la circoncisione rituale in Finlandia.

Saarakkala, 28, said he would submit a bill proposing to criminalize ritual circumcision in boys younger than 15 years of age, according to the online edition of Yleisradio, Finland's national public broadcasting company.

"The Finnish constitution guarantees everyone the right to personal integrity," Saarakkala is quoted as saying. Saarakkala, a critic of what he called perceived integration problems among immigrants, also pointed out that female circumcision "is already considered assault" in Finland. The fact that circumcision in males is legal in Finland, he said, constitutes legal discrimination.

Lo scorso 30 settembre, a Helsinki, si è tenuta una Conferenza internazionale sui diritti dei bambini che si opponeva alla circoncisione rituale.

FONTE: www.circumstitions.com/index.html#news

giovedì 1 novembre 2012

BIMBO DI 3 MESI IN OSPEDALE PER EMORRAGIA DOPO CIRCONCISIONE



BIMBO DI 3 MESI IN OSPEDALE PER EMORRAGIA DOPO CIRCONCISIONE, INDAGATI I GENITORI

REGGIO EMILIA - Un bambino di tre mesi è stato ricoverato d'urgenza all'ospedale Santa Maria Nuova di Reggio Emilia per un'emorragia dopo essere stato sottoposto a circoncisione. I genitori, originari del Ghana, sono indagati per lesioni gravissime assieme ad un medico. I medici del pronto soccorso si sono trovati di fronte a un'asportazione profonda, attuata nel modo prescritto dalle regole di alcune comunità del Ghana. Il bimbo, per cui i medici hanno stilato una prognosi di venti giorni, è stato dimesso dopo un breve ricovero. La vicenda (rivelata da il Resto del Carlino) risale a poco meno di un mese fa.

L'inchiesta è coordinata dal sostituto procuratore Maria Rita Pantani. La procura sta cercando di verificare chi sia in realtà il medico che, stando a quanto avrebbero dichiarato i genitori, sarebbe stato fatto venire apposta dal Ghana per effettuare l'intervento. Il secondo punto da chiarire è con quali strumenti sia stata compiuta la circoncisione e se si siano seguite tutte le norme igienico-sanitarie.


FONTE: http://www.leggo.it/news/cronaca/bimbo_di_...ie/199990.shtml

domenica 21 ottobre 2012

Circumcision and Human Behavior

Authors

Abstract

Psychologists now recognize that male circumcision affects emotions and behavior. This article discusses the impact of male circumcision on human behavior.

Introduction

Medical doctors adopted male circumcision from religious practice into medical practice in England in the 1860s and in the United States in the 1870s. No thought was given to the possible behavioral effects of painful operations that excise important protective erogenous tissue from the male phallus. For example, Gairdner (1949) and Wright (1967), both critics of male neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision, made no mention of any behavioral effects of neonatal circumcision.1,2

The awakening

Other doctors, however, were beginning to express concern about the behavioral effects of male circumcision.
Levy (1945) studied the behavioral effects of various operations, including circumcision, on young children.3_He found that children who had undergone operations experienced an increase in anxiety and various fears, including night terrors, fear of physicians, nurses, and strange men. The oldest age group exhibited greater hostility and aggression. Levy compared their behavior to that of soldiers who suffered from what was then called “combat neurosis,” and now recognized as_post-traumatic stress disorder.
Anna Freud (1952) pointed out that operations on the genitals, such as circumcision, would cause “castration anxiety.”4_Cansever (1965) tested Turkish boys before and after circumcision.5_Cansever reported severe disturbances in functioning, including regression in behavior, and withdrawal of the ego as protection against outside threats. Cansever also observed various anxieties, including castration anxiety. Richards_et al._(1976) noticed certain studies that indicated behavior change and called for further study.6_Foley (1966) noticed that circumcised men are more likely to be biased in favor of circumcision.7_Moreover, he said that circumcised men are more likely to engage in “problem-masturbation” but non-circumcised men were equally unlikely to engage in “problem-masturbation.” Grimes (1978) (another critic of non-therapeutic neonatal circumcision), apparently unaware of the research described above, sounded an alarm:
“In contrast to the sometimes dramatic somatic responses of the neonate to operation without anesthesia, the psychological consequences of this trauma are conjectural. Psychoanalyst Erik Erickson has described the first of eight stages of man as the development of basic trust versus basic mistrust. For the baby to be plucked from his bed, strapped in a spread eagle position, and doused with chilling antiseptic is perhaps consistent with other new-found discomforts of extrauterine existence. The application of crushing clamps and excision of penile tissue, however, probably do little to engender a trusting, congenial, relationship with the infant’s new surroundings.”8

Behavior during unanesthetized circumcision

Gunnar et al._(1981) studied the relationship of system cortisol levels to behavioral state. Gunnar_et al._report that, as system cortisol rises, infants increase wakefulness and crying.9_Malone et al. (1985) report that infants show little change in behavior due to limb restraint (of the type used for circumcision).10_Porter et al. (1986) report that newborn infants who are undergoing unanesthetized cirumcision emit cries of extreme urgency.11The studies, carried out with the aid of computer spectrographic analysis, show that infants who have been circumcised vocalize their anguish with higher pitch, fewer harmonics and shorter cries. The most invasive procedures produced the most urgent cries, as judged by observers. Porter et al. (1988) report that vagal tone decreases as the pitch of the cry increases.12__Gunnar et al. (1988) report that infants decrease distressed behavior when given a non-nutritive pacifier, although system cortisol does not decrease.13

Behavior immediately after unanesthetized circumcision

Studies show that circumcision affects the sleep of newborn boys. Emde et al.(1971) studied the sleep of boys who had had a non-therapeutic circumcision with the Plastibel® device.14Emde et al.report that non-therapeutic circumcision “was usually followed by prolonged nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.” The authors considered this type of sleep “to be consistent with a theory of conservation-withdrawal in response to stressful stimulation.” Anders & Chalemian (1974) studied the sleep of boys who had had a non-therapeutic circumcision with a circumcision clamp. They report significant increases in wakefulness after circumcision.15

Marshall et al._(1979) studied newborn infant behavior using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale.16_The study shows that infants change their behavior for at least 22 hours after circumcision. In a second study, Marshall et al. (1982) showed that circumcised infants kept their eyes closed during feeding or did not feed at all. Marshall et al. considered that mother-infant interaction and bonding was disrupted by the stress of circumcision.17

Numerous observers report that circumcision inteferes with the normal feeding behavior of circumcised boys. La Leche League leaders (1981) suggest that circumcision should be delayed for a time.18_Marshall et al. (1982) found that circumcision interfered with normal feeding behavior.17_Howard et al. (1994) report that “babies feed less frequently and are less available for interaction after circumcision.”19_Howard_et al._report that some newly circumcised babies are unable to suckle at the breast and require formula supplementation. Lee (2000) also comments on the difficulty with feeding that circumcised boys exhibit.20_Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for infants and is of key importance in giving an infant a good start in life with optimum mother-infant bonding, health, and well-being,21_so non-therapeutic infant circumcision should not be allowed to interfere with breastfeeding.

Behavior at vaccination

Hepper (1996) surveys and reports research that indicates memory commences to function in the fetus at about the 23rd week of gestation.22_ Infant memory continues to function through the birth experience and afterward. Anand & Hickey (1987) firmly established that newborn infants have fully functioning pain pathways.23_ When an infant is subjected to a painful and traumatic experience all the necessary factors are present to create post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Boyle_et al._(2002) describe the etiology of PTSD:

“A traumatic experience is defined in DSM-IV as the direct consequence of experiencing or witnessing of serious injury or threat to physical integrity that produces intense fear, helplessness or (in the case of children) agitation. The significant [circumcision] pain and distress described earlier is consistent with this definition. Moreover, the disturbance (e.g., physiological arousal, avoidant behaviour) qualifies for a diagnosis of acute stress disorder if it lasts at least two days or even a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if it lasts more than a month. Circumcision without anaesthesia constitutes a severely traumatic event in a child’s life.”24 PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal and terrifying experience. One would, therefore, expect to find PTSD in circumcised boys.

Taddio_et al._(1995) compared the behavior of circumcised boys with the behavior of girls at the age of 4 to 6 months when vaccination with DPT occurred. Taddio_et al._report that circumcised boys demonstrate a much greater response to the pain of the vaccination than do girls.25_In a second study, Taddio_et al._(1997) compared the behavior of circumcisied boys with the behavior of non-circumcised boys at vaccination.26_Similarly, the circumcised boys demonstrated a greater response to the pain of vaccination than did the non-circumcised boys. Taddio commented:

“It is, therefore, possible that the greater vaccination response in the infants circumcised without anaesthesia may represent an infant analogue of a_post-traumatic stress disorder_triggered by a traumatic and painful event and re-experienced under similar circumstances of pain during vaccination.”26_Taddio_et al._suggested that the pain of circumcision “may have long-lasting effects on future infant behaviour.”26
Circumcision of boys is nearly universal in the Philippine Islands for cultural reasons. Ramos & Boyle (2001) studied the psychological effects of circumcision in Philippine boys. They report a high incidence of PTSD in these boys. Sixty-nine percent of boys who had been circumcised by the traditional “tuli” Philippine ritual circumcision and 51 percent of boys who had been medically circumcised satisfied the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD.27

Behavior in later life

There is increasing evidence that male circumcision influences the behavior of adult males. Menage reports PTSD after genital surgery.28_ More specific to male circumcision, Rhinehart reports finding PTSD in adult males in his clinical practice in which the stressor was neonatal circumcision. 29_Rhinehart lists symptoms of:
  • a sense of personal powerlessness
  • fears of being overpowered and victimized by others
  • lack of trust in others and life
  • a sense of vulnerability to violent attack by others
  • guardedness in relationships
  • reluctance to be in relationships with women
  • defensiveness
  • diminished sense of maleness
  • feeling damaged, especially in the presence of surgical complications such as skin tags, penile curvature due to uneven foreskin removal, partial ablation of edges of the glans and so on
  • sense of reduced penile size, a part cut off or amputated
  • low self-esteem
  • shame about not “measuring up”
  • anger and violence toward women
  • irrational rage reactions
  • addictions and dependencies
  • difficulties in establishing intimate relationships
  • emotional numbing
  • need for more intensity in sexual experience
  • sexual callousness
  • decreased tenderness in intimacy
  • decreased ability to communicate
  • feelings of not being understood29
Van der Kolk (1989) reports that persons who have been traumatized have a compulsion to repeat the trauma and to find new victims on which to re-enact the trauma they suffered.30_This may apply with full force to victims of circumcision. The circumcision of an infant is a way to reenact the trauma of circumcision.31_The compulsion to circumcise isvery strong and has resulted in unlawful batteries and abductions to circumcise an unwilling victim.32-36

There is some evidence that adverse experiences in the perinatal period (from the 28th week of gestation through the first seven days of extra-uterine life) cause self-destructive behavior in adult life.37-40_Circumcised males may tend to be more self-destructive, but more research is needed to verify the effect traumatic non-therapeutic circumcision has on self-destructive behavior.

The condition of the male phallus impacts a male’s feeling of well-being. A phallus diminished by the loss of the erogenous foreskin to circumcision necessarily adversely affects one’s feelings about one’s self, resulting in uncomfortable feelings of low self-esteem. There is, therefore,a strong tendency to deny that any loss occurred. Minimization of the loss is a common defense mechanism; ridicule of the subjectis another. Persons who have lost body parts must grieve their loss.41_Failure to grieve and accept the loss puts one in permanent denial of loss.42_Many men who have been circumcised do not want non-circumcised males, including their own sons,around to remind them of their irreversible loss. For these emotional reasons, as Foley (1966) observed, there tends to be a strong irrational bias in favor of universal circumcision among circumcised males.7_Many fathers who were victims of neonatal circumcision, for the reasons described above,adamantly insist that any male offspring be circumcised.24_This phenomenon has come to be called “the adamant father syndrome.” Circumcision, therefore is a repeating cycle of trauma in which circumcised infant males grow up to be adult circumcisers.31

Behavior of circumcised medical doctors

Medical doctors in Australia, Canada, and the United States practiced circumcision in the twentieth century, so these nations have a heavy proportion of circumcised men, some of whom become medical doctors. These circumcised male doctors share the same bias in favor of male circumcision as do other circumcised males.7,31,43_Male doctors who were circumcised as infants are more likely to recommend circumcision of infants to parents.44

The Australian Paediatric Association recommended non-circumcision—genital integrity—in 1971;45_thereafter, the incidence of circumcision among Australia’s newborn plummeted.46_At the present time, in regard to genital integrity status, Australia is, in effect, two nations, one of which has mostly circumcised men and the other that has mostly intact men. The dividing point is the year 1978, because the incidence of genital integrity among newborn boys rose above 50 percent in that year.46_The ever-increasing percentage of genitally intact younger men in the population is causing increasing anxiety and distress among some older circumcised males. There now is a peculiar phenomenon happening in Australia, where one sees middle-aged men desperately trying to restore Australia’s medical practice back to that which prevailed before 1971. This is, of course, an attempt to defend their culture-of-origin and is carried out for the emotional reasons described here, although, as Goldman reports, pseudo-scientific reasons are advanced.31

Behavior of circumcised medical authors

The high proportion of circumcised males in the medical community create a distorted, biased medical literature.47 _Goldman (1999) writes:

“One reason that flawed studies arepublished is that science is affected by cultural values. A principal method of preserving cultural values is to disguise them as truths that are based on scientific research. This ‘research’ can then be used to support questionable and harmful cultural values such as circumcision. This explains the claimed medical ‘benefits’ of circumcision.”31 Hill (2007) writes:

“The medical literature on circumcision is voluminous and contentious. Circumcised doctors create papers that overstate benefits and minimize harms and risks. When these doctors publish such claims, other doctors come forward to refute them….The result is an unending debate driven by the emotional compulsion of circumcised men.”43 Female doctors from a circumcising culture of origin have been known to contribute pro-circumcision pieces.
Boyle & Hill (2012) said:
“MC changes human and sexual behaviour. Most doctors favouring MC are circumcised themselves . Circumcision status ‘plays a huge role in whether doctors are in support of circumcisions or not’. Circumcised doctors often defend circumcision by producing flawed papers that minimise or dismiss the harm and exaggerate alleged benefits .487

“Invariably, when biased opinions promoting MC are published by doctors trying to justify their own psychosexual wounding, uncircumcised doctors (who mostly see no need for amputating anatomically normal healthy erogenous tissue) are quick to refute such overstated claims. We fully expect that this distortion of the medical literature will continue until non-therapeutic male circumcision is prohibited by law and most circumcised male doctors have passed from the scene.”47
Most American medical editors are circumcised men. They share the pro-circumcision bias of other circumcised men. They tend to select papers for publication that conform to their bias.48 The literature, therefore, is filled with pro-circumcision papers written by circumcised doctors.48 The behavior of these circumcised doctors has served for a century to prolong the practice of a nineteenth century surgical operation that has no medical indication and is injurious to infants and children.

Behavior of medical societies

Medical societies in the English-speaking nations have a high proportion of male members (fellows) who are circumcised.The societies that represent medical specialities that practice circumcision have found themselves unable to adequately address the problem of circumcision and to repudiate this harmful, outmoded practice.

Goldman (2004) writes:

“Although medical committee members highly value rationality, a rational and objective evaluation of an emotional and controversial topic like circumcision can be difficult. It is suggested that the potential psychological and social factors surrounding the practice of circumcision could affect the values and attitudes of circumcision policy committee members, the attitude toward evaluating the circumcision literature, and the publishing of circumcision literature itself. If the members are polarized, the process of negotiating to arrive at a consensus statement could introduce additional psychosocial factors that could affect the final policy.”49
Dr. Goldman published the two articles cited here in the United Kingdom and Canada, not the United States. This may be a testimony to the bias and censorship present in the medical literature of the United States.

Conclusion

All of the behavioral changes described in this paper are negative, unfavorable, or maleficial in nature. No positive, favorable, or beneficial behavioral changes have been found.

The English-speaking nations have a high proportion of circumcised males and, therefore, a high proportion of psychically-wounded males. A society containing so many psychically-wounded males cannot be as healthy as it should be. The United States has clung to circumcision even after Australia and Canada have rejected circumcision of infants. Consequently, the United States has the highest proportion of circumcised males to intact males and the greatest injury to society.

The best way to stop the cycle of trauma is to stop circumcising infants.31,42_ Non-traumatized intact infants usually do not grow up to become circumcisers, so the cycle of trauma would end.
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Additional Reading
Miller A. Appendix:_The Untouched Key: Tracing Childhood Trauma in Creativity and Destructiveness. Anchor Books (Doubleday) New York, 1991.
Goldman R. Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma. Boston: Vanguard Publications, 1997.
Fleiss P, Hodges FM._What your Doctor May Not_Tell You About Circumcision. New York: Warner Books, 2002.
Ritter TJ, Denniston GC. Doctors Re-examine Circumcision. Seattle: Third Millennium Publishing Company, 2002.