Intactivism News

News items are copied to Circumstitions News blog (which takes comments)

- thanks to Joseph4GI

Medical Independent (Ireland)
October 23, 2014

GPs being pressurised on infant circumcision

by Catherine Reilly

Some families are pleading with GPs to indicate pathological phimosis in an attempt to access circumcision for cultural reasons, according to a Specialist Registrar in Urology.

Dr Fardod O’Kelly told the Medical Independent (MI) that public hospitals generally only have provision for circumcision for pathological phimosis, for which there are “huge” backlogs for adults and children.

[Pathological phimosis is not a disease of children, since the foreskin may not be mobile until puberty. It seems doctors are already gaming the system.]

The HSE intercultural strategy acknowledged that early circumcision of infant males is an expected cultural or religious duty in some ethnic minority groups. However, due to lack of provision, some families are pressuring their GPs to indicate medical need.

“Some families would try to go privately to get [cultural circumcision] done because there are some surgeons that might have more space on their lists in the private sector,” Dr O’Kelly told MI. “Other families are trying to get primary care physicians to actually suggest there is a problem with the foreskin — that it is pathological — to get seen in the first place.”

Some had been successful in having their GP make a referral to an OPD to put forward their case. Dr O’Kelly said he did not envy the predicament of GPs on this issue, particularly given “they are under so much pressure themselves”.

He said there was also a danger that some families may turn to unlicensed individuals, as occurred in 2003, when a young baby of African background died following a ‘home cultural circumcision’ in Waterford.

[There is an equivalent danger of girls being genitally cut by unlicenced practitioners, but nobody thinks about providing that "service".]

More widely, provision of paediatric circumcision in Ireland is challenged by a trend towards its non-performance by younger consultant general surgeons, with it increasingly viewed as a urological responsibility, according to a paper Dr O’Kelly co-wrote in the Irish Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS).

Dr O’Kelly said surgical sub-specialisation and gradual lack of exposure to paediatric surgery had meant that many newer general surgeons were no longer in a position to undertake the procedure, with the burden of cases left to urologists and paediatric surgeons, especially outside Dublin.

Significant manpower issues would be exacerbated by retirements of older, more classically-trained general surgeons, noted the IJMS paper.

Dr O’Kelly told MI that, ideally, paediatric circumcision could be performed on specific lists, under sterile conditions, by appropriately-trained surgeons and this did not necessarily have to occur in an acute hospital.

[Ideally, non-therapeutic paediatric circumcision would not be performed at all. Where are their ethics?]

after the Falkland Islands News Network
October 31, 2014

Falkland Islands considers law against male cutting

The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly has considered adding male genital cutting to a law against female cutting.

Dr the Hon Barry Elsby MLA moved that clauses of the Crimes Bill concerning FGC be removed from it and brought back later in conjunction with a Bill on Male Circumcision.

"Ritual circumcision in baby boys for non-medical reasons is something that this Bill singularly fails to address in its present form," he said. "I fully support the outlawing of the horrible, barbaric practice of Female Genital Mutilation."

"However, as the ‘children’s champion’ I have a duty to speak up on behalf of children and try to ensure that their needs are listened to. It was shocking to hear an interview on the BBC World Service last week with a lady from Sudan who had been conducting these mutilations for many years. I would suggest that her inability to realise that girls have the right to be protected from such practices, even if they are based on religion or tradition is mirrored by the reluctance of many countries to effectively deal with the practice of ritual circumcision on baby boys by non-medically trained people.

"The United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child provides that the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration and require the state to take all appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, inhuman treatment, injury or abuse ... . It also provides that state parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices that are prejudicial to the health of children."

"There are no proven health benefits for routine circumcision in an ... eight day old baby boy but there are risks of harm and of deaths from this procedure."

"In 2012, a Muslim child having a circumcision in Germany for religious reasons was seriously harmed. The case went to the [Cologne] Regional Court where the judge found that the practice was a breach of a child’s human rights. The Government did not challenge the Court’s decision, presumably because they knew the judge was correct. What they did instead was to pass a new law that made circumcision for religious reasons legal. ...

"Later in 2012 the council of Europe passed a resolution condemning male circumcision as – and I quote – “a violation of the physical integrity of children” and called for a total ban.

...

Though several other Legislative Assembly Members were sympathetic to the purpose of Dr Elsby's motion to add a clause regulating ritual circumcision, it failed.

The Mirror (UK)
October 31, 2014

Boy aged 10 dies from infection 'caused by circumcision' during school holidays

by Marcus Chippindale

A ten-year-old schoolboy died from an infection which could have been caused by a circumcision carried out in Africa, an inquest heard today.

Stanley Chola had the procedure carried out in Zimbabwe during the school summer holidays

Stanley Chola

But nearly two months later the youngster - from Reading - went into septic shock and died in hospital.

An inquest heard today that officials looking into Stanley's death concluded it was possible that the circumcision could have been the start of the infection.

The day before Stanley died, he was due to see a doctor about his condition but his mother failed to take him to the appointment - a decision described as a "pivotal" moment.

"If they had been able to come down I think we could have admitted him to hospital and treated him," said Dr Jeremy Lade, director of the Westcall out-of-hours GP service in Berkshire, told the inquest.

Stanley, a pupil at New Christ Church School in Reading, went with his family to Zimbabwe during the summer holidays last year and was circumcised on August 23.

However, he was absent during the first week of the new term and his step-father, Malik Issa, told a member of school staff this was because he had developed an infection from the circumcision.

On October 7 his mother, Ellen Gomes, took Stanley to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, with her son complaining about a knee problem caused while playing football...

... {On October 14] a paramedic was scrambled to the family home at around 7.40pm after Stanley started having breathing difficulties.....

His condition rapidly deteriorated and doctors twice performed CPR before Stanley was declared dead at 11.35pm.

Dr Lade told the inquest it was not uncommon for children with sepsis to die very quickly.

"They will walk into a ward and then suddenly pass away a short time afterwards," said Dr Lade.

It was thought the infection might also have been caused by an injury to his knee, either from being hit with a hockey stick by another pupil or while playing football.

However, a leading doctor said the two latter theories were "very unlikely" to be the case.

...

Daily Mail
October 31, 2014

... Today, a coroner delivered a narrative verdict of Stanley's death, ...

Discussing the possibility that the circumcision was the cause of Stanley's death, which is disputed by his mother, Mr Bedford said: 'That evidence is, I think, at best confusing. It is certainly not definitive. That is the less likely explanation.'

October 29, 2014

Imprisoned paedophile maintains circum-fetish website

by Hugh Young

An imprisoned paedophile is the registered owner of a circumcision-fetish website.

Vernon Quaintance, 71, is serving a two year sentence for offences against boys and possession of offensive material (thousands of images of boys being circumcised). The prosecution told his trial that the circumcision-promoting "Gilgal Society" of which he was the head, was "just a facade" for his paedophilic activity.

The Gilgal website froze when Quaintance was first convicted of possessing indecent images in April 2012, but it was replaced by a very similar one, the "Circumcision Helpdesk", at the same time as Quaintance's second trial began.

It turns out that the Circumcision Helpdesk site is registred in the name of Vernon Quaintance. It is not known whether Quaintance has access to the website from prison.

Like the Gilgal Society, one of the main activities of the Circumcision Helpdesk site is to give access to leaflets promoting circumcision written by Professor Brian Morris of the University of Sydney.

The Circumcision Helpdesk site links through its "Reference Centre" to a leaflet called "Preparation for Infant or Childhood Circumcision, An Introductory Guide".

It includes this text.

The authors are given as "Inter-Circ Moderation Team, Medical Reviewer John Murray M.D." It is dated July 2014, and copyrighted by "The International Circumcision Forum © Inter-Circ". Inter-Circ is the public face of the circumfetish group Circlist. One of its four suggested links is to circinfo.net, Professor Morris's site.

Earlier story

WOTC
October 24, 2014

Asked and Answered: In-home circumcision kit

by

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - It seems you can buy almost anything on the Internet, but one product being sold on popular store websites is raising a few eyebrows, and even led to a petition drive.

This isn't exactly the normal news story, but a WTOC viewer asked if a device show in a picture they sent was safe.

Since the message was sent, Walmart has discontinued selling the Plasti-Bell Circumcision Device after a petition and write-in campaign by angry customers. However, other retailers, including Sears and Amazon, also sold the item.

Now the item is no longer on Amazon or Sears. WTOC spoke with Dr. Dudley Stone of Coastal Pediatrics, who was pretty stunned after checking into the devices.

“It's scary because what's next?” he said. “People will be doing all sorts of things at home.”

He said no device sold in a store or online should be used in a procedure [at] home as sensitive and potentially dangerous as a circumcision, whether it's a child or an adult.

“At home circumcision is an unusual concept,” Stone said. “It's not something recommended by medical professionals and should be done by trained medical staff. To do it at home is not an acceptable technique, and this kit being sold is really intended for trained medical professionals.” [Someone should tell that to AAP Circumcision Task Force member Dr Andrew Freedman, who by his own admission, circumcised his own son on his parents' kitchen table.]

Stone called it a sign of the times; people want to save money and do it at home without seeing a doctor. He said the procedure is not one to fool around with and you should see a doctor.

The Post (Zambia)
October 23, 2014

Circumcised activist with HIV cautions men

by Fridah Nkonde

A 56-YEAR-OLD activist says he contracted HIV despite having been circumcised since birth.

Supporting musician Danny Siulapwa's statement that some young men are rushing to get circumcised for the wrong reasons, Danny Lungu said being circumcised does not exempt one from contracting HIV.

[The question arises whether it has any effect whatsoever.]

"You can contract HIV and AIDS even if you are circumcised. Here I am, I was circumcised when I was a baby but I am living with the virus. I contracted HIV when I was 25 years old.

The information I had that 'when you are circumcised, you cannot contract HIV' misled me," he said. "I used to womanise in the 1990s but I got infected and I came to learn that whether you are circumcised or not, you can still contract HIV."

[So one of the reasons he got HIV was that he was circumcised....]

Lungu, who is married with five children who are all free of the virus, has been living with HIV for the past 24 years and has been on antiretroviral treatment for 14 years.

"My advice to young people is that being circumcised does not give them a passport to sleep around because they can still contract HIV. If you are not circumcised, get circumcised and then continue using condoms," he advised. "There is information on HIV and circumcision everywhere now. In the 90s, we had no such information on issues of HIV and circumcision. I think that somehow contributed to me contracting the virus."

He said circumcision only reduces one's chances of contracting HIV and that it is not a preventive measure.

"It is not automatic that when you are circumcised, you cannot contract HIV. Young ones should go for circumcision and have safe sex by always using condoms or abstaining. We still need the new generation," said Lungu.

Danny observed that some men think they cannot contract HIV once they get circumcised.

Worldcrunch
October 23, 2014

Foreskin, The Play: Circumcision As Art For A Turkish Playwright

A Turkish immigrant playwright in Germany explores the meaning and theater of a religious rite that divides modern society.

by Igal Avidan

BERLIN - A quiet New Year's Eve in the maternity ward of a Berlin hospital. The doctor, a woman of Turkish descent, pours sparkling wine for herself and a blonde nurse. But the quiet ends when a fit, young, undershirt-clad macho man arrives pushing his pregnant wife Ela in a wheelchair. His name is Abraham B. Schneider. Pronounced in German, B. Schneider comes out as Beschneider, meaning "circumcisor."

His brother-in-law, an elegantly dressed real estate mogul named Mohammed Habibi Nassir, enters with them. Before the baby boy is even born, both men are vigorously insisting that he must be circumcised, after being pressured to do so by Ela's domineering Turkish mother Elif. When the only German family member, Christian Eichelmann [another pun, Eichel meaning "glans"] arrives, the other men try to bribe him into a pro-circumcision stance. Eichel, though, feels he has to defend "Europe's last firewall" and "the oppression of the German majority."

Is this comedy playing at a Berlin theater payback for the national debate that took place two years ago about forbidding circumcision? At the time, a German court ruled that when carried out for purely religious reasons, circumcision was an act of bodily harm. After further discussions and deliberations [and direct pressure from Israel's President Shimon Peres], the country's national parliament passed by a wide margin a regulation stating that parents had the right to have their sons circumcised shortly after birth, but only if certain standards are observed and if a religious circumcisor can carry out the procedure.

Lead dramatist Tunçay Kulaoglu claims the idea for the play, which is called Vorhaut ("Foreskin"), actually predated all that. It was the product, he says, of a barroom powwow among the actors, who, when the topic popped up "out of the blue," started swapping their own circumcision stories. "We were curious since this was hardly a daily subject of conversation. So we asked each other, 'Hey, how was it with you?'" Bremen-based director Miraz Bezar recalls.

... Did he want to be circumcised? "I was eight years old at the time," he says. "Working on the play, we had heated discussions about when a boy is fully able to decide that for himself."...

Those personal experiences inspired certain aspects of the play. ...

Other elements of the work, however, were drawn from the 2012 national debate on circumcision, which occurred after the actors came up with the original idea, ...

The Local
October 22, 2014

Denmark to once again look at circumcision ban

Nearly three fourths of Danes are in favour of banning [infant] male circumcision, a new poll revealed.

In a survey of over 1,000 Danes conducted by YouGov for Metroxpress newspaper, 74 percent of respondents wanted a full or partial ban on the practice while just ten percent supported giving parents the right to circumcise their sons.

The poll results come as parliament prepares to hold a hearing on the practice of circumcision on Wednesday. Left-wing party the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and libertarian party Liberal Alliance are in favour of a ban, while other parties report internal disagreement on the issue.

The debate about circumcision is a frequent topic in Denmark. Following extensive media coverage in both 2012 and 2013, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) carried out a study on the potential health risks and benefits of circumcision. In June 2013, the agency determined that there was neither enough risk to justify outlawing circumcision nor enough documentation of its benefits to generally recommend the practice.

Despite the health authorities’ findings, Wednesday’s hearing in parliament may be the first step toward an eventual ban.

“We will handle this topic politically within a few years. As I see it, it goes against the [UN’s] Convention on the Rights of the Child to circumcise children. I’m leaning toward a ban until the person is of legal age,” Venstre MP Hans Christian Schmidt, a former health minister, told Metroxpress.

According to Sundhedsstyrelsen, somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 circumcisions are performed in Denmark each [year], primarily on Jewish and Muslim boys. Male circumcision is almost universal in the Muslim world and highly prevalent in many African countries. It is also a popular practice in the United States where more than half of all boys are circumcised and in Canada, where a 2007 survey put the percentage at 31.9 percent.

Jair Melchior of the Jewish faith group Mosaisk Troessamfund cautioned politicians to not let opinion polls affect their stance on circumcision.

“The problem is that there are so many assertions in the debate on circumcising boys. If it was so dangerous, the Jewish community would have been the first to stop it. But it’s not,” Melchior told Metroxpress. [On the contrary, religion is the one reason that can override concerns of safety. Rabbis would earnestly debate how many brothers might be allowed to die of genital cutting before one might be spared, but only recently have any said "None".]

Like Denmark, neighbouring Sweden and Norway have also been discussing a ban on male circumcision. Following intense debate in 2012, Germany passed a law allowing religious circumcision.

Female circumcision is illegal in Denmark.

Earlier story

Copenhagen Post
October 22, 2014

Danes want circumcision banned

75 percent want an end to the practice

by Christian Wenande

Three out of every four Danes want to ban the circumcision of boys, unless it's for medical reasons. AYouGov survey for Metroxpress newspaper revealed that 74 percent of the over 1,000 Danes asked want to completely or partially ban the circumcision of boys, while just 10 percent want the practice to remain legal.

“Circumcision is cutting a healthy part of the body from a boy,” Lena Nyhus, the founder of Intact Danmark, an association against the circumcision of children, told Metroxpress. “Denmark ought to be a pioneer when it comes to children's rights. We need an age limit of 18 years.”

On the political agenda
While it is illegal to circumcise girls in Denmark, about 1,000-2,000 Danish primarily Jewish and Muslim boys are circumcised every year. In comparison, about every second boy in the US is circumcised.

The only political parties that want it banned are Enhedslisten and Liberal Alliance, but the entire political sphere will discuss the issue today in parliament.

Danish health authorities have said that circumcision presents very little risk if done by the right doctors. From 2003-2010, the patient ombudsman Patientombudet registered only 20 cases involving complications associated with circumcision.

October 19, 2014

Young men are getting circumcised for wrong reasons - Danny

by Abigail Sitenge

Danny Siulapwa, also known as Danny Kaya, says young men are rushing to get circumcised for wrong reasons.

Danny, a father of three, observed that most men think they cannot contract HIV once they get circumcised.

“I’m an open person hence I talk to many young people who tell me they don’t need to use condoms during sexual intercourse because they are circumcised. But that’s very wrong. I think there is need to sensentise people more on this issue,” he says.

Danny wonders what type of message is being put across regarding circumcision. He urges young men to avoid practicing unprotected sex regardless of whether they are circumcised or not.

A few years ago, Danny who is deemed a controversial artiste in Zambia, released a hit song called Live which advocates the use of condoms.

He says because of such perceptions, the number of people being infected with the virus has kept on rising.

He has since called on people spearheading male circumcision campaigns to emphasise the fact that the practice did not obliterate the chances of contracting HIV but merely reduced them.

“Personally I’m not liking the way the anti-HIV campaigns are being done, suddenly there is this hype of male circumcision. It is a good practice but what is ringing in most young people’s minds is that once they are circumcised, they cannot contract HIV,” he says. ...

Weekend Post
October 17, 2014

Men still hesitant to be circumcised

by Wendy Muperi

GOVERNMENT has bemoaned limited demand for voluntary medical male circumcision half a decade after its introduction.

Owen Mugurungi, director AIDS and TB Unit in the ministry of Health, said thousands of men are still avoiding the nip owing to false beliefs surrounding the procedure — making the fulfilment of national targets a tall order which demands community involvement.

“The programme experiences limited demand in some areas due to religious, cultural issues as well as some misconceptions regarding male circumcision,” said Mugurungi.

“The responsibility is not for the ministry alone. If we rally behind male circumcision as part of the HIV prevention strategy we have in Zimbabwe, we will jointly be able to, not only meet the target, but influence the reduction in HIV incidence”.

A number of weird stories about circumcision have widely been circulated in Zimbabwe. Recently, the ministry allayed fears that foreskins are being illicitly sold to the global cosmetics industry and traditional healers which are rife in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe launched the programme in 2009 to circumcise 1, 3 million young men in eight years in an effort to reduce HIV infections — which stand at 57 000 annually.

As of June, a total of 98 245 males aged 13 years and above got circumcised against an annual target of 217 800.

Since the programme’s inception in 2009, a total of 302 555 males have been circumcised against a 2017 target of 1, 3 million men.

A report by UNAids and the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the risk of HIV infection among men could be reduced by 60 percent.

Currently, the country has 1, 2 million people living with the virus....

GhanaWed
October 14, 2014

Penile amputation cases rise; doctors concerned

The number of baby boys who are suffering as a result of their penises being cut off during circumcision is rising.

Three months ago, when JOY News first broke the story in the hotline documentary titled “Borrowed Manhood”, about 76 children who reported at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) were affected.

Despite the awareness creation, the number of cases of penile amputation during circumcision of baby boys has continued to rise.

Dr. Kwaku Addai Arhin of KATH’s Urology Department has deplored the rise in circumcision-related injuries.

According to him, the number has risen to 86 in less than three months and the urologist warns of more cases if immediate steps are not taken to deal with the situation.

“The problem has not been resolved. The issues we raised have not been tackled. The first documentary we made was meant to raise public awareness, but nothing else has been done.”

To buttress his point, the Urologist mentioned a recent case where a one-week-old boy endured an almost complete mutilation of his glans during an operation by a “qualified” nurse.

He indicated the need for workshops to educate all circumcision practitioners (wanzams), nurses and even doctors on the subject.

“Until that is done, we cannot be safe. We cannot say we have achieved anything.”

Dr. Arhin called for a National policy on circumcision, insisting that “We need first and foremost to identify all those who conduct circumcisions and give them hands-on training so they can do safe [circumscision].”

In Ghana, male infants are circumcised when they are a few days old. The practice can be traced to Abrahamic tradition and uncircumcised boys usually, suffer stigmatisation.

This delicate operation is conducted either in a hospital or by traditional surgeons locally referred to as “wanzams”.

Aids Ark
October 9, 2014

Uganda's flagging male circumcision drive

SHAREKAMPALA, 8 October 2014 (IRIN) – Limited funding and personnel, as well as misconceptions and cultural beliefs, are some of the challenges hindering Uganda’s goal of circumcising at least 4.2 million men by 2015 in a bid to lower the country’s HIV/AIDS incidence.

Just 26 percent, about 1.4 million, of the men targeted under the Safe Male Circumcision (SMC) programme – launched in September 2010 – had been circumcised by the end of 2013, according to Uganda’s AIDS Commission (UAC) mid-term review report of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan (2011-2015).

The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) indicate that circumcising 4.2 million Ugandan men in 2011-2015 could help to halve the country’s HIV incidence. Uganda’s HIV prevalence rate has risen from 6.4 to 7.3 percent over the past five years.

The 4.2 million target represents 80 percent of the estimated number of uncircumcised men in Uganda. “I don’t think we will achieve the 80 percent target by 2015. The service is limited to a few areas mainly because of the limited funding from donors and government. PEPFAR contributes the biggest portion of this fund out of the many donors supporting health related projects,” Sylvia Nakasi, policy and advocacy officer, Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organizations (UNASO), told IRIN.

“Other factors affecting demand are the mixed messages on SMC, limited coordination of the private and public SMC service providers which affects timely reporting and quality assurance of the service provided, limited training of health workers to do SMC surgery, inadequate SMC supplies, lack of SMC champions and limited health workers.”

According to the UAC report, about 14 districts (out of 112) had reported no SMC activities by March 2013.

“We have had challenges in building capacity and putting systems in our health facilities for the service,” Joshua Musinguzi, the programme manager of the AIDS Control Programme at Uganda’s Ministry of Health, told IRIN. “We are now focused to consolidate and scale up SMC to try to achieve our target. We have harmonized communication materials to create demand, uptake, fight behavioural disinhibition and dispel myths.”

Myths and misconceptions

The UAC report noted that limited mass awareness on SMC may lead to risky sexual behaviour. “Disinhibition” implies the loss of inhibition on behaviour that had been restrained.

“The circumcision disinhibition might cause men to abandon previous risk reduction behaviours such as partner reduction or condom use. There are reports of local misperceptions that SMC is a magic bullet to prevent HIV, a belief that is likely to inhibit safe sex practices,” it stated.

The report added that the preference for traditional circumcision among some ethnic groups, such as the Bamasaba and the Bakakonjo, is affecting government efforts to scale up SMC. SMC is medically carried out under hygienic conditions to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, which are risk factors in traditional circumcision.

...

Myths abound. “There are many misconceptions and myths which surround this intervention. It’s also [a] frightening procedure. Men think of the risks involved, the pain and how long it will take them to heal,” added Sarah Kayagi, the chairperson of Uganda’s HIV/AIDS parliamentary committee. “Some women don’t want their husbands circumcised on grounds that they will become sexually weaker… Some think it’s meant to convert people to Islam."

[Not to mention - never to mention - that men may refuse to be circumcised because they know the value of their foreskins and that the claimed benefits are insufficient to justify it.]

...

Metro (UK)
October 8, 2014

Doctors gave patient a circumcision by accident

A hospital patient who went in to have his penis straightened was circumcised without his permission.

David Duffy, 60, came round from his operation to discover that he had 11 stitches in place of his foreskin.

He’s now been given £2,000 [USD3,222] in compensation from Glasgow Royal Infirmary, according to The Sun.

Saying he felt violated, David said: ‘My penis was bending to the left. It wasn’t painful but it didn’t look right.

‘I had an operation to straighten the bend. Nothing was ever said about circumcision.’

The straightening operation was a success.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow said the hospital had apologised, adding: ‘If Mr Duffy has further concerns, we would be happy to look into them.’

Croydon Advertiser
October 3, 2014

Upper Norwood circumcision fetishist jailed for asking schoolboys to show him their private parts

A CIRCUMCISION fetishist and Catholic clergyman from Upper Norwood who targeted young boys and asked them to expose themselves has been locked up for more than two years.

Vernon Quaintance, 71, lured schoolboys for a drive in the countryside before asking them to drop their trousers under the pretence of inspecting whether or not they were circumcised.

The paedophile confessed to a string of offences against five young boys as young as 10 in the 1960s and 1970s.

The pervert, who was a member of Catholic society the Order of Malta, had also accumulated an archive of vile images.

Thousands of images were unearthed from his computer, many showing bloody and ritualistic circumcisions in the Brazilian rainforest.

Quaintance was a leader of pro-circucision group the Gilgal Society, a group claiming to promote male circumcision and 'its benefits in terms of health, sexual satisfaction and self-image'.

But this was just a facade for the 'distribution of images of young boys' for erotic and paedophilic use, Southwark Crown Court heard today (Friday).

Gilgal is a Biblical site in Jericho and was also known in Hebrew as Gibeath-haaraloth - the Hill of the Foreskins.

He has served as a sacristan in the church in the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, north London, where the Order of Malta conduct their masses.

Jailing him for two years and four months Judge Anthony Leonard QC said Quaintance used his interest in the surgical procedure to look at young boys.

"In my judgement, while I accept that you have had a lifelong interest in circumcision, the reason that you took those young boys to a secluded spot and asked to see their private parts - while it may have been inspired by your own interest - was clearly for sexual gratification," he said.

"You are now 71 and in reasonable but not robust health.

"I can make some very limited allowance for your age but it does in particular assist you to the extend that I am able to judge that this offending did not continue in your later years."

The first boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was just ten years old in 1966 when Quaintance approached him while he was knocking on doors for his Cubs group on a 'Bob a Job' round.

Quaintance, who was in his 20s at the time, asked if he wanted to go for a drive in the Surrey countryside.

"It was during that drive that the defendant began to talk about circumcision," said prosecutor Jonathan Turner.

"This led to the defendant to describe what circumcision was and when they came to a secluded area in the countryside, the car was parked and the defendant asked the complainant to show him his penis to determine whether it was circumcised or not."

The "scared" boy refused and Quaintance drove him home.

Two boys, aged 10 and 11, were targeted at St Bartholomew's Church in Clapham, south London, where he worked as an alter server.

Quaintance took an 11-year-old altar boy on a drive in the countryside after gaining the trust of his parents.

He joked about circumcision and convinced him to expose himself.

He asked how far back he could pull his foreskin and if he wanted to see an example of a circumcised penis.

The child was left "horrified and sickened" by the "abuse of trust" for many years after the incident.

The deviant also pursued two brothers, aged just 12 and 10, while working as a BT engineer.

There was a photo studio and dark room at the premises in London which Quaintance lured two children to in the 1970s.

"The defendant claimed he was a member of a photography club, as a consequence he induced him [a complainant] to go," said Mr Turner.

"He took him to the dark room under the pretence of being taught photography.

"Once there he introduced the topic of circumcision and invite the complainant to take down his trousers.'

The boy, who had initially agreed, grew scared when he saw the look on Quaintance's face as he approached him and refused to expose himself.

His brother, also lured into speaking about circumcision with Quaintance alone, was so distressed by Quaintance's sick request he went to the toilet and cried.

Gudrun Young, defence counsel, said Quaintance's "life work" was the promotion of circumcision and pressed he had a 'genuine interest' in the procedure.

"He maintains that he wasn't acting out of sexual motivation at the time," she added.

Quaintance dodged jail in 2012 after he was found guilty of possessing nine hours of child pornography on video tapes.

The retired telephone engineer walked free with a suspended sentence, despite a judge pouring scorn on the claim he derived 'no sexual enjoyment' from the clips.

Faced with a series of new charges, he admitted nine offences just moments before his jury trial was due to begin earlier this year.

Quaintance, of Hetley Gardens, Upper Norwood pleaded guilty to five charges counts of indecency with a child between 1966 and 1976 and four counts of possession of indecent images.

He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for one count of indecency with a child.

He was jailed for a further 10 months for three remaining indecency charges to run concurrently with each other and consecutively to the 18 months sentence.

Quaintance was handed a one month sentence for possession of indecent photographs which were all graded at Level One to run concurrently to the other terms.

An additional count of sexual assault on a child was left to lie on file.

[The Gilgal Society website reopened soon after Quaintance's conviction, rebranded as the "Circumcision Helpdesk". It remains to be seen whether it too is "only a facade".]

Earlier story

AJC.com (Atlanta, Georgia)
Septemer 29, 2014

Lawsuit filed claiming botched Clayton County circumcision

by Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Clayton County mother is suing a clinic and a nurse midwife claiming they botched the circumcision of her newborn, allegedly scarring him to the extent that he cannot normally urinate and most likely will be unable to have sex once he is an adult.

According to the attorney who filed the lawsuit in Clayton County State Court, the tip of the baby’s penis was amputated, leaving a stump.

“They cut through his urethra,” attorney Jonathan Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Monday.

He said child’s body is reacting to the wound by sealing up and they are “continuing having to go and have holes punched in that wound so he can urinate.”

The mother of the 1-year-old said she has to insert an instrument in the hole three times a day to prevent it from closing.

“He will be deprived for the rest of his life. Our society is so judgmental,” Stacie Willis said about her son, the youngest of three boys she and her husband have. “This may be a kid who never wants to have intercourse or kids, or will be ashamed. He may be suicidal or depressed. Nobody knows.”

His medical bills so far have total $20,000, some of it covered by insurance.

Johnson said psychiatric care for the child is expected to total at least $1 million over his lifetime.

Willis says doctors still don’t know if any future surgeries can repair the damage.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, says the boy was disfigured because of negligence of Life Cycle Pediatrics, nurse midwife Melissa Jones, who performed the circumcision on Oct. 3, 2013, and Anne Sigouin, owner of Life Cycle OB/GYN.

...

Willis said there was an extraordinary amount of blood during the procedure, and she immediately took her son to a nearby emergency room.

“That’s when I found out the tip of his glans (had been severed) and urethra was seriously damaged,” Willis said. “His penis will never be normal. He’ll have to go through (more) surgeries for the rest of his life.”

Zambian Eye
September 9, 2014

Sex Workers in Mazabuka avoiding sex with circumcised men

Some Sex Worker in Mazabuka town in Southern province are allegedly avoiding attending to men that are circumcised.

The Sex Workers complain that the circumised men ‘take too long’ during sexual encounters and that this is bad for their business.

[And will they insist that intact men use condoms, which may also slow them down? This throws "circumcision to prevent HIV" into disarray.]

Quoting March Zambia, a local Non-Governmental Organisation, Zambia Daily reports that the Sex Workers have complained of losing business when they encounter men who are circumcised than those that are not as it is ‘short time’ on the latter.

March Zambia deals with HIV/AIDS programmes.

Studies have shown that men who are circumcised prolong sexual encounters than those that are not.

Leicester Mercury
September 9, 2014

Psychiatrist faces being struck off for carrying out unregulated circumcisions

A doctor circumcised dozens of young boys in a filthy clinic on the first floor of a terraced house, a tribunal heard.

Dr Hassan Ramadan Abdulla, 63, was not registered by the Care Quality Commission when he undertook the procedures for religious or traditional reasons at his Leicester clinic.

The NHS psychiatrist, who is also a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, charged parents £70 to circumcise boys at his private Al-Khalill Clinic, in the Evington area, from 2002.

He admitted six offences of carrying out surgical circumcisions over a three-and-a-half month period in 2011 without the registration required by law at Leicester Magistrates Court in July last year.

Five of the offences related to carrying out operations on individual boys, while the sixth related to illegal surgery performed on a further 36 children.

Dr Abdulla, of Sudbrook, Lincoln, was fined £2,700 and ordered to pay more than £30,000 in costs.

He is now facing a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service fitness to practise hearing in Manchester, where he could face a ban from the profession.

Nigel Grundy, for the General Medical Council, said: "This case concerns, not Dr Abdulla's NHS practice as a psychiatrist, but his operation of the private clinic to perform circumcisions on male babies and young children for religious or traditional reasons."

He told the panel that the clinic operated, on Saturdays, from the first floor of a 1920s or 1930s terraced house.

Dr Abdulla has admitted that the premises were inadequate and that he did not maintain clean or sterile instruments.

...

News24 (Kenya)
September 4, 2014

Female circumcision killer gets amnesty despite girl's death

Nairobi - A woman who carried out female genital mutilation on a 16-year-old girl who then bled to death has been given an amnesty after agreeing to stop the practice, police said Thursday.

"We have extended an amnesty to her because she came out and owned up," said Charles Wasike, the police chief in West Pokot county, situated on the border with Uganda.

"She is an example to others, and we encourage similar people to come out and own up," he told AFP.

Kenya outlawed FGM in 2011, with practitioners punishable by a minimum three-year jail term or fine, and life imprisonment if the procedure causes death.

The Standard newspaper said the woman, Cheponger Yarasia, admitted to police that the girl's parents had sought her out to perform the ritual because their daughter was pregnant, and that giving birth before undergoing FGM was considered taboo.

The report said the procedure went wrong and the girl bled to death.

FGM, which affects tens of millions of women particularly in the Horn of Africa and East Africa, ranges from removal of the clitoris to the mutilation and removal of other female genitalia.

Teresa Lokichu, an anti-FGM campaigner, said the girl's parents had refused to take her to hospital in order to conceal the ordeal.

"The young girl died a month ago, but the woman who circumcised her came out two weeks ago," Lokichu said, explaining that she had marshalled the help of local church leaders to get the woman to come clean, go to the police and sign a promise not to do it again.

"It's a rampant practice among many nomadic communities in the region," she said.

Local media reported that the woman said she would circumcise 50 girls per day during holiday seasons, and charged between three and five US dollars for the procedure.

The Observer (Kampala)
September 2, 2014

Uganda: Circumcision Promoting Risky Behaviour - Report

by Racheal Ninsiima

A new study of 314 female sex workers (FSWs) in Makindye division found that more than half of respondents falsely believe that once a man is circumcised, protection is not necessary during sex.

The International Health Sciences University (IHSU) study was titled: "Understanding the dynamics and practices of female sex workers with both circumcised and uncircumcised men in Makindye division."

It was done in the Kampala suburbs of Kabalagala, Kansanga, Makindye II, Kibuye, Katwe, and Ggaba, between July and August 2013. Although there is no significant difference in sexual practices between circumcised and uncircumcised men, there is a misconception about the advantages of male circumcision among FSWs.

Of the interviewees, 17.7 per cent preferred having sex with circumcised men because they believe the risk of HIV infection is nil. Some 20 per cent of the 60 FSWs that reported to be HIV-positive had not used a condom in their last sexual encounter before the interview. One interviewee summed up the misconception of using circumcision as a 'natural condom' this way:

"A man who is not circumcised takes long to ejaculate and at times such men want to have sex with you without a condom such that they can infect you. But a man who is circumcised can even rape you without a condom and you do not get infected."

With regard to condom use, 187 (72.5 per cent) said they used condoms with steady clients every time while 67 (26 per cent) said they used condoms occasionally.

"Meanwhile, four FSWs (1.5 per cent) said they never used condoms with their steady clients and three of these did not think that circumcised men could infect someone with HIV yet they had had STIs in the past three months," the report partly reads.

The report notes that the 60 per cent protective effect from HIV/Aids that is associated with safe male circumcision (SMC) is likely to trigger a high propensity for risky sexual behaviour and worsen the incidence of HIV.

...