National Secular Society has called for an end to all forms of non-consensual religious genital cutting at the Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy.

In a speech on Sunday, NSS campaigns officer Dr Alejandro Sanchez urged the government to "ensure that no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during childhood", as recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The "bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination" of children must be protected, he added.

The Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy (WWDOGA) is held in Cologne each year to commemorate the verdict of a local court in 2012, which held that non-therapeutic circumcision of boys constituted grievous bodily harm and was illegal under German law.

The court ruled that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents". Waiting until the child was capable of making their own decision about circumcision did not compromise the religious freedom of parents, it added.

Then-chancellor Angela Merkel said the decision to protect the bodily integrity of children risked Germany becoming "a laughing stock". The German parliament subsequently brought in new legislation to legalise circumcision.

Continue reading @ National Secular Society.

NSS Speaks Out At Pro-Genital Autonomy Event

National Secular Society has called for an end to all forms of non-consensual religious genital cutting at the Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy.

In a speech on Sunday, NSS campaigns officer Dr Alejandro Sanchez urged the government to "ensure that no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during childhood", as recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The "bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination" of children must be protected, he added.

The Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy (WWDOGA) is held in Cologne each year to commemorate the verdict of a local court in 2012, which held that non-therapeutic circumcision of boys constituted grievous bodily harm and was illegal under German law.

The court ruled that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents". Waiting until the child was capable of making their own decision about circumcision did not compromise the religious freedom of parents, it added.

Then-chancellor Angela Merkel said the decision to protect the bodily integrity of children risked Germany becoming "a laughing stock". The German parliament subsequently brought in new legislation to legalise circumcision.

Continue reading @ National Secular Society.

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