We are committed to ending all forms of forced non-therapeutic genital cutting.
This includes female genital mutilation (FGM) and ritual circumcision of boys.
A child's right to bodily autonomy must not be overridden by other people's religious or cultural beliefs.
The National Secular Society supports a person's most fundamental right to grow up with an intact body and to make their own choices about permanent bodily modifications.
All forms of forced cutting on children's genitals breach basic child rights and safeguarding guidance.
Several communities have genital cutting traditions, often rooted in religious beliefs. But children, and particularly babies and young infants, are incapable of giving consent to such medically unnecessary, harmful, painful and permanent procedures.
Sometimes health benefits for non-therapeutic genital cutting are claimed despite the evidence to the contrary. All forms of forced genital cutting risk serious emotional, sexual, and physical harm – including death.
Child safeguarding must always be prioritised above the desire of adults to express their belief through forced cutting of children's genitals.
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
"It is irrelevant whether or not a person believed the operation to be necessary in the child's best interests as a matter of custom or ritual."
We are committed to the eradication of forced genital cutting of girls and women known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in all its forms.
There are thought to be well over 100,000 women and girls affected by FGM living in the UK. We work with like-minded organisations to protect girls from the harm of forced genital cutting.
FGM practices vary. Some forms involve a pinprick or the removal of a small amount of tissue from the clitoris. Other forms include complete removal of the clitoris and labia, and stitching the vulva closed. Communities which practice FGM often cite religion as a motivation.
All forms of FGM are child abuse and are rightly illegal in the UK. But some British girls are still unprotected. Some have been sent abroad to undergo the procedure and others are having it performed secretly in this country.
There has been only one successful prosecution for FGM since it was banned in 1985. We are concerned that fear of upsetting cultural and religious sensitivities is preventing authorities from tackling FGM effectively.
"...a right specifically for African families who want to carry on their tradition whilst living in this country"
As with all forms of forced genital cutting, those who speak out against FGM are often accused of disrespecting their parents or cultural heritage, and of over-dramatising a 'minor' procedure that others 'don't complain about'. Together with the perceived humiliation of speaking about one's own genitals, these factors combine to ensure that many sufferers are reluctant to speak out.
Ending FGM requires sustained civil society action to change attitudes and inform girls of their rights.
Male circumcision
While all forms of FGM are rightfully banned, non-therapeutic circumcision of boys is permitted in UK law.
The foreskin is a normal body part with physical, sexual and immunological functions. Removing it from non-consenting children has been associated with various physical and psychological difficulties. These are likely to be greatly under-reported because people who have experienced sexual harm are often reluctant to reveal it as societal dismissal or stigmatisation may compound the harm.
Circumcision is excruciatingly painful. When performed on babies, little to no anaesthesia is used. Even when performed under anaesthesia on older children, the recovery entails weeks of pain and discomfort.
The procedure is also dangerous. Between 1988 and 2014, there were 22,000 harms recorded by the NHS resulting circumcision. They included scarring and full penis amputation. In 2011, nearly a dozen infant boys were treated for life-threatening haemorrhage, shock or sepsis as a result of non-therapeutic circumcision at a single children's hospital in Birmingham. In 2007, a newborn baby went into cardiac arrest minutes after he was circumcised in a London synagogue, and subsequently died.
Any claims of marginal health benefits of circumcision are extremely contested. No national medical, paediatric, surgical or urological society recommends routine circumcision of all boys as a health intervention. There is now growing concern among doctors that existing ethical principles of non-therapeutic childhood surgery should no longer include an exception for non-therapeutic circumcision.
62% of Brits would support a law prohibiting the circumcision of children for non-medical reasons. Only 13% would oppose it.
There is very limited regulation of non-therapeutic circumcision in the UK. We do not know how many such procedures are performed annually or the degree of harm, as there is no requirement for any follow up or audit and the boys themselves are too young to complain.
It is now being recognised more widely that non-therapeutic religious and cultural circumcision is a breach of children's rights. We want to see the same protections for girls' bodily autonomy extended to boys.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support an end to non-consensual religious genital cutting
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
NSS welcomes new measures to tackle FGM
Posted: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 14:21
The National Secular Society has welcomed new government measures announced yesterday to crackdown on the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Under an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill, children at risk of FGM could be made to surrender their passports to prevent the practise known as "vacation cutting", in which girls are taken abroad during school holidays and subjected to FGM in countries in Africa and the Middle East where genital mutilation is widespread.
Additionally, the amendment will create a new criminal offence of failing to prevent a girl from falling victim to FGM. Parents or guardians who "fail to protect" their children from genital cutting could face prosecution under the new law. Justice Minister Mike Penning said that the Government wanted "to prosecute those who knowingly let this terrible abuse happen to children they are responsible for".
The amendment also provides for the lifelong anonymity of FGM victims in the hope that this will induce more victims of genital cutting to come forward. The Government hopes this will increase lacklustre rates of conviction for an evidently widespread crime. NHS data released last month revealed that 1,700 women and girls with FGM have been treated in hospitals since April. At least 137,000 women affected by FGM are thought to be living in England and Wales. However, to date only one criminal prosecution for perpetrating genital mutilation has ever taken place in the UK; this trial will start in January 2015.
The new measures will allow individuals to apply for "FGM protection orders" if they believe a child is at risk. Under such an order a child at risk of FGM could have their passport confiscated to prevent their being subjected to genital mutilation abroad; a mandatory medical examination to determine if FGM has already taken place and a requirement that the child remains at one fixed address.
A spokesperson for the National Secular Society welcomed the attempt by the Government to curtail FGM, which has been documented by the World Health Organization in 28 countries around the world, affecting between 100 and 140 million women and girls globally.
The new measures follow warnings from the UK Border Force last month of FGM 'cutters' flying into the UK to perform the procedure and a raft of government initiatives to obstruct those who practise FGM in the UK or who subject children to genital mutilation overseas. Earlier measures announced included the collection of data on the prevalence of FGM for the first time and the use of specialist teams at airports under Operation Eris to monitor flights to high-risk nations and identify potential victims of FGM. The latest measures are explicitly focused on preventing girls being taken abroad for genital cutting, a trend which is particularly prevalent during school summer holidays.
Mike Penning MP described the amendment as an "unprecedented package of measures to strengthen protection for victims, encourage them to report the crime to the police and get support". The Minister added that "legislation alone cannot eradicate this unacceptable practice. But it is important that we change the law where necessary".
The new measures were announced on the same day that anti-FGM campaigner Efua Dorkenoo died. Jane Ellison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, tweeted: "We have lost Efua Dorkenoo OBE, mother to a movement & beloved inspiration to so many of us. But generations of girls will bless her". Dorkenoo had recently helped launch "The Girl Generation: Together To End FGM", a campaign funded by the Department for International Development aimed at ending FGM in Africa in a single generation.
There should be no embarrassment over challenging Muslim treatment of women, says Justice Minister
Posted: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 08:51
Justice Minister Simon Hughes has said Britain should not be "culturally embarrassed" about challenging Muslims over the wearing of the veil or the segregation of women.
Simon Hughes, the Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties, said women and men must be allowed to sit together to "challenge people's beliefs and practices" and take on Muslim "hardliners and fanatics" who oppose equality.
His comments came in a speech to the Girl Summit, an event dedicated to ending female genital mutilation (FGM) and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) within a generation.
Mr Hughes said schools had been nervous to challenge communities on issues of FGM or forced marriage in fear that they were "tresspassing on a cultural space that was inappropriate" but that had changed in the last four years.
He said the shift was in part down to political leaders making a "personal commitment" to challenge communities publicly about FGM.
Mr Hughes said there was a "cultural shift" amongst Britain's Muslim communities in favour of equality. Those unwilling to accept examples of such parity, such as men and women worshipping together in mosques, were now "losing the battle", he said.
The Liberal Democrat minister also appeared to welcome a debate on the veil. Mr Hughes said there had been a "nervousness" about discussing what veils people can wear, face coverings at school, or whether Muslim women should be required to lift the veil when giving evidence in a court, but "we have broken though that now", he said.
Sara Khan, Director and Co-founder of Inspire, a counter-extremism and human rights organisation seeking to address the inequalities facing British Muslim women, welcomed Mr Hughes's comments. She said: "For years, organisations like mine have been at the forefront of fighting discrimination experienced by Muslim women not only in wider society but also within Muslim communities. We have consistently opposed the argument of "religious or cultural differences" which has often been used to ignore, deny or prevent women from receiving the same level of protection from human rights and equalities legislation which is afforded to other British women. Universal human rights belong to all British citizens.
"A cultural shift is indeed beginning to slowly take place within British Muslim communities, but we cannot be complacent. Our work within Muslim communities highlights to us that the fight against hardliners and fundamentalists who oppose equality is still a huge battle and will not change overnight. It is a generational battle. We therefore welcome the support of all those in British society who believe in equality and human rights for all."
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "There is no doubt that a fear of upsetting cultural and religious sensitivities has prevented FGM from being tackled effectively – despite such abuse being illegal in the UK since 1985. Whilst this is thankfully now changing, there is still a long way to go before the violence and inequality faced by Muslim women in Britain is adequately addressed.
"The treatment of Muslim women in Britain's unregulated and inherently discriminatory 'sharia courts' is undermining their legal equality, but little is being done to remedy this. Meanwhile, through its guidance on inheritance and succession rules, the Law Society is advising solicitors on how to implement the most regressive and misogynist interpretation of sharia available.
"Secularists, human rights activists and liberal Muslims must continue to work together to ensure Muslim women enjoy the same rights and level of legal protection as all other UK citizens."
