An Icelandic bill recently introduced says the circumcision of young boys violates their rights. The lawmakers draw a parallel with female genital mutilation which is outlawed in most European countries. The bill says that circumcisions are performed without anesthesia, and states that the procedure is carried out “in homes that are not sterile, and not by doctors but by religious leaders. There is a high risk of infections under such conditions that may lead to death.”
This is fundamentally about not causing unnecessary harm to a child,” – Silja Dogg Gunnarsdottir, lawmaker who introduced the bill
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The proposed law calls circumcision a violation of human rights
…since boys are not able to give an informed consent of an irreversible physical intervention.”
Circumcision is not common in Iceland, Iceland is a small Atlantic Ocean island nation of 340,000 people. They are predominantly Lutheran or atheist, with an estimated 100 to 200 Jews and about 1,100 practicing Muslims according to The Tribune.
Related: Religious Reasons Not To Circumcise
The bill has eight co-sponsors. It is considered unlikely to get be voted in. The bill will not reach the majority in the 63-seat Iceland parliament it needs. It does not have the formal backing of any government ministers. But the bill has levied considerable support from 422 Icelandic doctors who want to retire the practice.
Iceland is known for progressive legislation on gender equality. In a world’s first, last month, the government made it illegal for companies to pay women less than men.
More on Circumcision:
- Religious Reasons Not To Circumcise
- 10 Circumcision Myths – Let’s Get the Facts Straight
- Circumcision, the Primal Cut – A Human Rights Violation
- Celebrities Against Circumcision
- Dying to Cut – Unnecessary Surgeries You May Want to Avoid, and Why
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