News
Circumcision is now in the news as a method of HIV
prevention. Although our organization understands the need to combat
this serious public health problem, infant circumcision is not the answer.
There are other more effective and economical means of prevention.
And most of all, an infant cannot contract HIV through sexual means and
cannot consent to this irreversible body alteration.
Human
Genital Cutting (HGC) is a culturally determined, medically unnecessary body mutilation that is forcibly
practiced on girls and boys around the world. The
estimated numbers of worldwide HGC victims are 650
million male children and 100 million female children. In addition, many intersexed
children undergo genital alteration surgeries without giving
consent to the changes in their otherwise healthy bodies. Millions of infants and
children are at risk each year. Legislators, policy makers, psychologists,
physicians, nurses, and parents should be aware of the consequences of HGC.
The
International Coalition for Genital Integrity (ICGI) in cooperation with
the National Organization of Circumcision Resource Information Centers (NOCIRC)
and Stop Infant Circumcision Society (SIC Society) sponsor Genital
Integrity Awareness Week.
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Here is a photo of our
parent education billboard. The board was located on the Boulevard of the Allies
just before entering Oakland – home of Magee-Womens Hospital, the largest
maternity hospital in PA (over 8,000 births/year). The board received
26,300 impressions on a daily basis – it was posted during December 2004
and January 2005.
