Circoncisione Infantile Maschile

Bambina ricoverata in ospedale dopo essere stata sottoposta a FGM

Una bambina di un anno (il cui nome viene tenuto nascosto) che viveva nel distretto di Hai, nella regione del Kilimanjaro, si trova ora in ospedale per cure mediche specialistiche presso il Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) a causa di più del sanguinamento causato da una circoncisione illegale.
La bambina era stata circoncisa segretamente nel villaggio Ormolili

... la bambina era stata circoncisa dalla propria madre. La nonna della bambina, identificata come Rehema, insieme con la madre, sono state arrestate dalla polizia.
La madre del bambino, Magdalena Julius (19), ha detto che sua figlia era affetta da un’infezione allo stomaco e di conseguenza non poteva imparare a camminare, anche dopo aver raggiunto l'età di 12 dodici mesi. Ha detto che alcuni vicini di casa l’hanno consigliata di prendere il bambino e portarlo a un guaritore tradizionale. "Ho portato mia figlia da sua nonna, che ha sostenuto che per poter guarire, doveva essere sottoposta a circoncisione , "ha detto.
Tuttavia, la nonna del bambino, Rehema Taraa, ha detto che non sapeva nulla della presunta circoncisione.. ..

A one- year child (name withheld) in Hai district, Kilimanjaro region is undergoing specialised medical treatment at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) due to over bleeding caused by an illegal circumcision.

The girl was circumcised secretly in Ormolili village in the district recently, according to information issued by the Social Network for Educating the Society on the effects of Female Genital Mutilation (Nafgem).

In a statement at the weekend, the Network said it has followed up the incident closely and discovered that the child was circumcised by her own mother. The child’s grandmother, identified as Rehema and the mother are being held by police.

The child's mother, Magdalena Julius (19), said her child was suffering from stomach infections, as a result she couldn’t learn how to walk even after attaining the age of 12 twelve months.

She said some neighbours advised her to take the baby to a traditional healer. “I sent my child to her grandmother, who claimed in order for the child to be healed, she must undergo circumcision,” she said.

However, the grandmother of the child, Rehema Taraa, said she didn’t know anything about the alleged circumcision. “Soon after my daughter in law came back, I saw my grandchild so weary and stained. I decided to take her to Hai District Hospital, and then she was referred to Mawenzi Hospital,” she said.

Program Officer of Nafgem, Honoratha Nasua, said the Network has decided to monitor closely “the brutal practice”

"We provide education and campaigns against such kind of practices and childhood marriages, we have a great challenge because nowadays circumcision is done secretly while babies are just months old.

Kilimanjaro regional police commander Absalom Mwakyoma confirmed occurrence of the incident, saying police were still investigating the matter.

www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=37952

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Mutilazioni genitali femminili e pediatri americani

Oggi parliamo di mutilazioni genitali femminili (MGF). Sono forme di rimozione parziale o totale dei genitali femminili esterni o altre modificazioni indotte agli organi genitali femminili, effettuate per ragioni culturali. Sono una pratica diffusa principalmente in alcuni paesi dell’Africa, del Medio Oriente e dell’Asia. Nei villaggi dei paesi interessati vi sono donne, generalmente anziane e autorevoli, che con rudimentali strumenti, in condizioni igieniche precarie, con anestetici e disinfettanti naturali, intervengono sulle bambine. In alcune culture vi è la credenza che soltanto con la rimozione del clitoride una donna possa raggiungere la maturità e divenire a pieno titolo componente della comunità. Le MGF sono considerate una forma di controllo sulla sessualità della donna che solo privata di una parte dei suoi organi genitali potrà mantenersi vergine e casta. Hanno anche la funzione di “purificare la donna” dei genitali esterni perché, secondo alcune tradizioni, questi hanno effetti negativi sulla sua salute mentale, sulla vita del marito e dei futuri figli. Vi sono poi delle motivazioni psicologiche e sessuali. In alcune comunità si tende a sostenere la necessità di MGF per prevenire una incontrollata attività sessuale delle giovani donne, dovuta a una crescita eccessiva del clitoride, che aumenterebbe il desiderio sessuale. Le mutilazioni sarebbero quindi necessarie per preservare la castità delle giovani donne che possono così giungere al matrimonio vergini, per tutelare gli uomini e l’intera comunità da una vita sessualmente dissoluta. Si crede inoltre che il restringimento della vagina possa provocare un maggior piacere per l’uomo nel rapporto sessuale e quindi prevenire infedeltà e divorzi. In alcune comunità si crede infine che le MGF possano favorire la fertilità.

Gli organismi internazionali (OMS, Unicef, Unfpa), gli stati, sia occidentali che africani o medio orientali, sono tutti concordi nel ritenere che le MGF rappresentano una grave violazione dell’integrità fisica, psichica e morale delle donne, e di uno dei diritti umani fondamentali che è il diritto alla salute. È dimostrato da diversi studi, come dall’attività medica quotidiana, che queste pratiche comportano serie conseguenze sulla salute fisica e mentale delle bambine e delle donne, anche per le patologie legate alle complicanze che ne derivano che dipendono dalla gravità delle mutilazioni, dalle condizioni igieniche in cui sono eseguite e nelle quali abitualmente vivono le donne, dall’abilità delle persone che eseguono l’intervento.

Perché ne sto parlando? Perché l’American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) il primo maggio aveva diffuso un pronunciamento in cui si sosteneva la possibilità di permettere ai medici negli USA di operare un piccolo “taglio rituale” al clitoride delle bambine che sostituisca forme più gravi e pericolose di mutilazioni. Questo per evitare che le famiglie di immigrati legate a questa tradizione mandino le giovani figlie nel paese di origine o in contesti clandestini non igienici negli USA.

1999 RECOMMENDATIONS

Opposes all forms of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Recommends that its members provide patients and their parents with compassionate education about the physical harms and psychological risks of FGM.

2010/2011 RECOMMENDATIONS

Opposes all forms of FGC that pose risks of physical or psychologicalharm.

Recommends that its members provide patients and their parents with compassionate education about the physical harms and psychological risks of FGC while remaining sensitive to the cultural and religious reasons that motivate parents to seek this procedure for their daughters.

Di fronte a questa presa di posizione dell’AAP vi è stata una levata di scudi da parte di attivisti che hanno sottolineato come quelle indicazioni siano incoerenti da un punto di vista etico e medico e in contrasto con la costituzione, le leggi e i diritti umani.

Di conseguenza, nei giorni scorsi l’AAP ha diffuso un nuovo comunicato in cui fa marcia indietro affermando la propria forte opposizione alle MGF e chiedendo ai propri membri di non mettere in atto tali procedure, neppure i surrogati.

E in Italia come ci si regola? Da noi è in vigore la legge 7/2006 nel cui articolo 6 si afferma: “Chiunque, in assenza di esigenze terapeutiche, cagiona una mutilazione degli organi genitali femminili è punito con la reclusione da quattro a dodici anni. Ai fini del presente articolo, si intendono come pratiche di mutilazione degli organi genitali femminili la clitoridectomia, l’escissione e l’infibulazione e qualsiasi altra pratica che cagioni effetti dello stesso tipo. […] La pena è aumentata di un terzo quando le pratiche di cui al primo e al secondo comma sono commesse a danno di un minore ovvero se il fatto è commesso per fini di lucro”.

Senza compromessi e senza sconti.

In Senegal, a Movement to Reject Female Circumcision

The practice of "female circumcision" is widespread, affecting an estimated 140 million women worldwide. ...

La pratica della "circoncisione femminile" è molto diffusa, colpisce circa 140 milioni di donne in tutto il mondo.



Attempts have been made from time to time to stamp out the practice: by missionaries in colonial times, U.N. proclamations, even laws to ban it, all to little effect. From all this history, Molly Melching, founder of an organization in Senegal called Tostan, derived a lesson.

"Tostan found that using approaches that shame or blame people really was just the opposite of what would work in changing social norms," Melching said.

In the two decades since Tostan -- which means "breakthrough" in the local Wolof language -- began using a human rights education approach, almost 5,000 villages in Senegal have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting, she said.

...

Tostan's staff and volunteers ... rely on an expansive education program of seminars conducted in the villages on human rights, including the right to good health. In time, people learn about germ transmission and how complications suffered by so many women during childbirth can be traced back to the cutting that occurred during their childhood, Melching explains. All this leads to community discussions that examine the origins of the practice,

...

Melching says religious leaders,... are especially appreciative of being consulted first.

Tostan's message to the communities is respectful, non-judgmental and simple: we know you want to do what's best for your daughters' future. It is sensitive to the fact that from the community's perspective, girls who are not cut are likely to be ostracized and unable to find marriage partners. That makes it critical that large numbers of communities - the marriage pool - abandon the practice collectively. Tostan helps coordinate, organize and raise the funds for such declarations -- gala events attended by thousands of people from hundreds of villages:

"One part of bringing about a change like this is to get everyone to change at once, what we call coordinated abandonment. Everyone has to see that everyone else sees that everyone is changing," says University of California, San Diego, professor Gerry Mackie, who has closely studied Tostan.

There are instances in history for this kind of massive shift in social norms. Women's feet were once bound in China, but the practice was abandoned in barely a generation. And there's a more recent example Melching notices when she returns to America: cigarette smoking was common and widespread when she left in the 1970s, but with increasing awareness of the health consequences, it has become widely unacceptable today.

(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/0...rcumcision.html)

Villagers ignore the law and go on a girl circumcision frenzy

Nonostante il divieto di legge, nei villaggi si continua imperterriti a praticare le FGM su giovani donne e bambine.

Centinaia di studentesse hanno subito il tradizionale rito di passaggio, che ora permette loro di sposarsi.

All'inizio della settimana, due "circumcisers ritual woman" sono state arrestate dalla polizia mentre praticavano una FGM a cinque giovani ragazze.

The sound of gun shots pierced the air as seemingly intoxicated youth joined girls and women in wild celebration.

Tradition had triumphed over law as hundreds of girls, some as young as eight years old faced the knife in a procedure that is internationally loathed and outlawed — female genital mutilation.

The setting is Kuria East and West districts. It’s is the third year since the last rite, and so a fresh set of girls are supposed to undergo the FGM among the Bugambe and the Buiregi clans.

Tuesday was the culmination of three days of activities that saw the villagers throng footpaths in wild celebration, armed with home made guns, machetes, spears, knives, clubs and other weapons that would ordinarily have their wielders jailed.

Hundreds of schoolgirls underwent the traditional rite of passage that now allows them to get married, raising doubts as to whether they will continue with their studies in the New Year.

Among the health concerns associated with the practice are complications during childbirth, heavy bleeding after birth and prolonged hospitalisation, with the degree of complications increasing depending on the extent and severity of the mutilation that can also cause infections and death.

Teachers in the area said that while the practice had been part of culture, it lead to significant deterioration in the standard of education as girls dropped out of school soon afterwards.

Mr Mosese Chahacha, a teacher in a local primary school said: “The rituals the initiates go through before the material day is like parallel education.

“They learn that they are adults and that they can stand up to anybody besides starting a home. It is very difficult for the teachers to discipline such children.”

Defended practice
But Guitembe ward councillor from Kuria constituency Protrus Kohe defended the practice, arguing that the constitution protected cultural practices of communities.

“The government allowed us to circumcise the men, which we did, but then we later wondered: now that we have taken men through the initiation, must we not create a pool of women from where they can marry? That is why we have decided to undertake the practice,” argued Mr Kohe.

Early in the week, two women circumcisers were arrested by police while “cutting” five young girls. The law enforcers laid a trap near the circumcisers’ homes and nabbed them soon after they began the “surgery”.

But the locals, who are predominantly members of the Kuria community, blocked the police vehicle, demanding immediate and unconditional release of the women.

December 7, 2011

....

da http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Villagers+go+...78/-/676fmuz/-/

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Male circumcision
"Male Circumcision is worse"

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (nata Ayaan Hirsi Magan) (Mogadiscio, 13 novembre 1969) è una politica e scrittrice somala naturalizzata olandese, nota soprattutto per il suo impegno in favore dei diritti umani e in particolare dei diritti delle donne e dei bambini all'interno della tradizione Islamica. Ayaan ha la laurea in Scienze politiche. Il Reader's Digest l'ha nominata «Europea dell'anno». Nel 2005 la rivista statunitense "Time Magazine" l'ha inserita nell'elenco delle 100 personalità più influenti del mondo.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Male circumcision(Genital Mutilation)
"Male Circumcision Is Worse than Female Circumcision"
An honest and upfront interview that doesn't sugarcoat
the horror of Male Genital Mutilation(circumcision).



Link Diretto: www.myspace.com/video/nkolasi17/aya...worse/101677129

Jewish on Circumcision


Miriam Pollack, speaks frankly about her experiences and studies on circumcision.
For PART 2 go to:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAQdM2CxY5c

Why do/did you have foreskin?The foreskin occupies a prominent position on an important organ. The foreskins location and structure indicate that it is the most important sensory tissue of the penis. Its persistence over millions of years suggests that it has played a role in the propagation of the species.

Il prepuzio occupa una posizione preminente su un importante organo. La posizione e la struttura prepuzi indicano che è il tessuto più importante sensoriale del pene. La sua persistenza nel corso di milioni di anni suggerisce che ha svolto un ruolo nella propagazione della specie.

A well-integrated organStructurally, the penis is highly integrated. The glans, foreskin and skin of the penile shaft function as a single unit, not as a collection of separate parts with entirely different functions. The functions of the glans and foreskin are similar, and overlapping, but come fully into their own at different times during intercourse.

Il glande, il prepuzio e la pelle che riveste il pene vanno viste come una singola unità, non come un insieme di parti distinte con funzioni completamente diverse.

Simple sensationsThe outer surface of the foreskin is specialized to detect feather-light touch and other sensations, including painful ones. The infamous zipper injury is an extreme example of the sort of damage the outer skin was designed to detect and prevent, long before the zipper posed a threat to the uninitiated.

Compared with the true (outer) skin of the foreskin, the glans is only feebly sensitive to light touch, pain, heat and cold. This is part of the reason we call the foreskin the primary sensory tissue of the penis. Without the foreskin, the end of the penis is numb to a host of sensations that tell the owner whether one of his most prized organs is in good company, or should move to safety.

Rispetto al vero (esterno) della pelle del prepuzio, il glande è solo debolmente sensibile alla luce tatto, dolore, calore e freddo. Il Prepuzio regola pure la temperatura e l'omeostasi interna dell'organismo nell'uomo.

Complex sensationsThanks to its ridged band, the inner lining of the foreskin is specialized sexual tissue. The ridged band readily expands and contracts and is obviously designed to detect stretching forces. When penile shaft skin tugs on the ridged band, special genital corpuscles in the peaks of the ridges detect movement and trigger ejaculation. Stretching of the ridged band may also trigger and sustain erection.

Electrical stimulation of the glans triggers nerve impulses that pass to the spinal cord and then to the muscle of ejaculation. Clearly the glans has much in common with the foreskin. Where foreskin and glans part company, functionally as well as physically, is in their sensitivity to light touch, pain and heat and cold. Contrary to common opinion, the glans is not highly sensitive to a broad range of stimuli.

Foreskin vs. glansIt is unclear whether the ridged band simply plays backup for the glans, or whether the two have different functions. The location of the retracted ridged band on the erect penile shaft suggests that the difference is one of timing. Possibly, the foreskin and its ridged band are designed to ensure that sexual reflexes are triggered when, and only when, these structures are stretched during intercourse. The biological importance of the ridged band to conception is self-evident, but there is still a major gap in our understanding of the relation between form and function of the penis.

Dartos musclePenile skin has two important characteristics, apparent only on erection. Firstly penile skin tenses, stiffens and shortens, firming up the connection between shaft skin and ridged band. This change allows for the transmission of movement from the base of the erect penis to the ridged band.

Secondly, penile skin undergoes a marked frictional change, brought about by stiff, forward-pointing skin folds. The mechanism is similar to that which raises goosebumps.

The changes in penile skin are brought about by contraction of the Dartos muscle. Between them, stiffening and frictionality ensure that the ridged band is instantly alerted to changes in position of the penis within the vagina.

Why two layers?The double-layering of the foreskin allows the delicate ridged band, which normally is safely hidden from view, to be deployed on the upper surface of the penile shaft during erection. There it stands a better chance of being activated. Double-layering also eases vaginal entry by offsetting the frictional resistance of erect shaft skin.

la Double-stratificazione, inoltre, facilita l'ingresso vaginale mediante compensazione con la resistenza d'attrito in erezione della pelle ad albero del pene.

SummaryThe various parts of the penis, including the foreskin, form a functional whole. The foreskin is the primary sensory tissue of the penis. The ridged band of the foreskin is built to trigger orgasm and ejaculation.

Le varie parti del pene, tra cui il prepuzio, formano un insieme funzionale. Il prepuzio è il tessuto sensoriale primario del pene. La "band increspate" del prepuzio è costruita per innescare l'orgasmo e l'eiaculazione.



Circumcision & Jewish Identity
http://youtu.be/zAQdM2CxY5c

Intactivist Laurie Evans talks about her reaction to circumcision.


Jewish Women Against Circumcision



 

This video, posted by its author, Duffy, on YouTube, sums up all of the major reasons to abandon male infant circumcision.

If a young woman can figure this out, why can’t adults?

 

La circoncisione maschile non fornisce alcun beneficio diretto per le donne

Circumcision in HIV-infected men and its effect on HIV transmission to female partners in Rakai, Uganda: a randomised controlled trial

Circoncisione di uomini con infezione da HIV non ridurre la trasmissione dell'HIV ai loro partner sessuali femminili non infetti da oltre due anni in uno studio randomizzato di prova fra 450 coppie in Uganda. La prova è stata effettuata a causa di un precedente studio osservazionale aveva suggerito che i partner di uomini HIV-positivi avevano meno probabilità di acquisire l'HIV se gli uomini sono stati circoncisi. I risultati confermano inoltre che gli uomini con infezione da HIV che fanno sesso prima della cicatrizzazione completa della ferita in seguito a una circoncisione, possono essere ad aumentato rischio di trasmissione del virus. "La stretta osservanza di astinenza sessuale durante la guarigione della ferita e l'uso del preservativo deve essere coerente in seguito fortemente promosso", scrivono gli autori. Un commento sulle note di studio che le donne con partner circoncisi sono anche a maggior rischio di diverse infezioni trasmesse sessualmente.

922 uncircumcised, HIV-infected, asymptomatic men aged 15—49 years with CD4-cell counts 350 cells per μL or more were enrolled in this unblinded, randomised controlled trial in Rakai District, Uganda. Men were randomly assigned by computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive immediate circumcision (intervention; n=474) or circumcision delayed for 24 months (control; n=448). HIV-uninfected female partners of the randomised men were concurrently enrolled (intervention, n=93; control, n=70) and followed up at 6, 12, and 24 months, to assess HIV acquisition by male treatment assignment (primary outcome). A modified intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis, which included all concurrently enrolled couples in which the female partner had at least one follow-up visit over 24 months, assessed female HIV acquisition by use of survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards modelling. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00124878.

The trial was stopped early because of futility. 92 couples in the intervention group and 67 couples in the control group were included in the modified ITT analysis. 17 (18%) women in the intervention group and eight (12%) women in the control group acquired HIV during follow-up (p=0·36). Cumulative probabilities of female HIV infection at 24 months were 21·7% (95% CI 12·7—33·4) in the intervention group and 13·4% (6·7—25·8) in the control group (adjusted hazard ratio 1·49, 95% CI 0·62—3·57; p=0·368).

Circumcision of HIV-infected men did not reduce HIV transmission to female partners; longer-term effects could not be assessed. Condom use after male circumcision is essential for HIV prevention.


(da TheLancet-National Institutes of Health)