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Winter 2006-2007 Volume 5, Issue 3

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Winter 2006-2007 Volume 5, Issue 3 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Protecting Children’s Newsletter Bodily Integrity © ARC Winter 2006-2007. Volume 5, Issue 3 (Whole Number 15) ceutical industry has discovered a In this Issue: universe of profitable products that Page 1, The Politics and Motivation and can be manufactured from stolen Motivation behind the African foreskins. Even though the trade in “Research” on Male Circumcision human organs and tissues, espe- .Dr. Paul Tinari cially those taken without consent, Page 3, Why Not Laws Against MGM/ is universally banned as an affront FGM? An Anthropological Perspective Zachary Androus to human dignity (starting with the Nuremberg Laws passed in the Page 4, Infect Amnesty with Intactivism Van Lewis 1940’s), the circumcision industry has once again exempted itself from Page 6, Book Review: A Surgical Temp- any restrictions that would hinder tation: The Demonization of the Foreskin & the Rise of Circumcision in Britain. the profit of its operations. As a re- J. Steven Svoboda sult, each pilfered foreskin can be Page 8, Executive Director’s Message worth tens of thousands in commer- cial products – not bad for a product Page 9, International Symposium Dr. Paul Tinari Ph.D. J. Steven Svoboda that they get paid to steal, despite the protestations of its rightful Page 11, Circumcision Reduces Risk of The Politics and Motivation AIDS, Study Finds. New York Times behind the African “Research” owner. Page 12, Dad Gets 10 Years in U.S. FGM on Male Circumcision and Gandhi once said that the truth Case AP HIV Infection can never be suppressed forever, Page 13, Sweden Jails Circumcision Fa- and the carefully crafted façade ther BBC News By: Dr. Paul Tinari Ph.D., Research Epidemiologist constructed by the circumcision in- dustry has begun to crumble in the dustry has now targeted Africa as a For more than fifty years, the face of successful assault by scien- brand new “virgin” source of fore- circumcision industry in North tific and ethical facts. Parents are skins to be harvested for luxury America has reaped windfall profits now, in a powerfully rising tide, re- pharmaceutical products for well by use of a clever combination of jecting the lies and deceit of the heeled consumers in the developed disinformation, lies and fear. By baby mutilators, and increasingly world. Let there be no mistake: The carefully targeted lobbying, selec- embracing the axiom that if males circumcision industry does not give tive funding of political campaigns were meant to have a foreskin, then a damn about the health of African and by playing the “religious free- they would be born with one. And children – they are only seen as a dom” card, the industry assured that as such, it makes sense to believe new - and more gullible - resource laws were passed banning all forms that his creator gave a foreskin to its to exploit. of genital mutilation in females male owner because the intent was (even with consent), but shamefully for him to keep it. If the industry truly cared about and in blatant violation of both the health of Africans, then it would Charter and Constitutional guaran- As parents are now increasingly be funding proper epidemiological tees of gender equality, permitted responding to scientific fact and studies, not the severely flawed, po- the genital mutilation of males reason instead of to hysterical litically motivated “research” that (without consent). The sad fact is claims and superstition, circumci- has just been selectively made pub- that while in Canada it is a Class D sion rates have plummeted to single lic. Why the obsession with ONLY Felony to mutilate a corpse, circum- digit percentages in many jurisdic- studying male circumcision and cisors can mutilate living children tions. This is most worrying to the HIV infection? circumcision industry, because their (and even kill them) without fear of Why is it that although female criminal prosecution. profits have begun to suffer. Seeing no hope of increasing supplies from circumcision was also found to re- In the last ten years, the pharma- North America or Europe, the in- duce HIV infection at the same con- 2 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Winter 2006-2007 ference where Auvert presented his each of these factors is potentially a where circumcision is virtually un- alleged “evidence” that male cir- far greater contributor to ease of known? Why is it ignored that the cumcision can help lower HIV rates HIV infection in males than the Western nation with the highest cir- that absolutely no media attention presence or absence of a foreskin. It cumcision rates, the United States, was given to the study involving is also criminally liable as well as also has the highest rates of HIV cutting female genitals? After all, scientific malpractice that the or- infection? the female labia have exactly the chestrators of the study choose not The truth can be obtained by same cellular receptors as the male to report that female circumcision asking the innocent question: “Who foreskin. Since it has now been es- was also discovered to reduce the sponsored this highly flawed re- tablished that circumcised females incidence of HIV infection. The search and for what political pur- have a lower risk of HIV infection fundamental purpose of science is pose?” The true intent of the study than intact ones, then why are re- to educate and enlighten – not to organizers can be deduced by their searchers not demanding large scale deceive and manipulate. Because of boastful claim that the results of circumcision of females in North this, to be blunt, these research re- this research would have all African America to give women the same sults are scientific garbage and men “lining up” to get circumcised. alleged protection from HIV that should be treated as such. As usual, the African get conned men are getting? In conclusion, the sad truth is while the Western multinational Why has no study been con- that these were not professional, corporations laugh all the way to ducted on the link between “dry” objective scientific researchers who the bank. intercourse and HIV infection? Dry were conducting an unbiased study A little digging will reveal that intercourse, popular with many Af- whose goal was the improvement of this research was paid for by the rican men, consists of drying out human welfare. Rather, these are same sponsors who soon hope to the vagina before intercourse by us- little more than amateur hacks, with richly profit from harvesting a huge ing harsh astringents. The dry, irri- at best a poor understanding of ele- new supply of African foreskins. tated and cracked vaginal tissues mentary epidemiological or statisti- After all, the same poverty stricken are far more prone to tearing, bleed- cal principles who were willing to Africans were easily conned by ing and hence, to HIV infection. do anything to prove their pre- Western multinationals into buying Why have no studies been made on supposed dogma – that male cir- expensive formula (diluted with the link between malaria infection cumcision prevents HIV infection. contaminated water) for their chil- and HIV susceptibility? Hundreds Why is the inconvenient fact ig- dren, instead of using free, healthy of millions of Africans are infected nored that the lowest rates of HIV and sterile breast milk. by the malaria parasite. Certainly it infection in the world are found in -Dr. Paul Tinari, Ph.D. is of interest if this increases a per- the Scandinavian nations, countries son’s risk of HIV infection. And what about the known links between the prevalence of other STDs and HIV infection? Antibi- otic resistant gonorrhoea and syphi- lis are epidemic throughout Africa, and it is well known that their pres- ence greatly facilitates HIV trans- mission to an infected individual. For that matter, any systemic infec- tion that compromises the immune system including tuberculosis, sleeping sickness and many para- sitical worms (all of which are en- demic throughout Africa), will all greatly facilitate HIV infection. It is scientifically criminal that none of these factors was controlled for in the recently announced but still unpublished “research.” Yet From left to right; ARC associates J. Steven Svoboda, Jeff Borg (graphic designer), Art Coons (student coordinator), Georganne Chapin (board member) , David Llewellyn (board member). 3 Attorneys for the Rights of the Child Winter 2006-2007 Why Not Laws Against MGM/ or innocence of the parent(s) of the childhood genital surgeries. FGM? An Anthropological little girl in question. I agree with I personally believe in the im- Perspective Prof. Gruenbaum, and believe that portance of individual choice in the the same thing is true about legisla- matter of elective surgeries, Zachary Androus tion in the United States. The law whether those surgeries are elected PhD Candidate in Race, Gender, serves to make a statement con- for social, religious, ethnic, or per- and Social Justice demning the practice of FGM more sonal reasons. I therefore find the Department of Anthropology than it serves to provide an instru- medicalized neonatal circumcision American University ment for addressing problems asso- to be problematic for a variety of Washington, DC ciated with the practice. From an reasons, not the least of which is its anthropological perspective, laws unjustified exclusion from the bio- Recently a sentence was handed and their enforcement can be under- ethical guidelines applicable to down in the Georgia trial of a man stood to reflect the values of a soci- other appearance-modifying surger- found guilty of having had his ety more than any overarching prin- ies on children. daughter genitally mutilated. While ciples of justice. several aspects of the case reported However, I do not support the in various national media might There is nothing inherently prob- MGM Bill, nor do I believe that le- raise questions about the veracity of lematic with the modification of the gal prohibitions are an effective or his guilt, not having been present at human body; indeed, such practices appropriate strategy for change in the trial I do not feel qualified to are universally present among hu- the United States or in the numer- comment on any of its substantive man societies.
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