3-Point Plan for Safer Circumcision Ritual

CAPE ARGUS NEWS, Cape Argus, South Africa, 15 August 2003.

3-Point Plan for Safer Ritual

Cape Argus (Cape Town)
NEWS
August 15, 2003
Posted to the web August 15, 2003

By Di Caelers

A registry of circumcision schools, proper training and certification, and inspections of bush circumcision sites would address "the barbarism perpetrated on today's hapless youth".

That's the call from the editor of the SA Medical Journal, Professor Dan Ncayiyana, who says the "barbarism" of the circumcision ritual today has little in common with the principles of this ancient rite.

Writing in the latest edition of the journal, Ncayiyana comments on a study from the Bolopedu district in Limpopo that concluded the modern-day circumcision ritual had "degenerated into a money-making operation".

People paid as much as R400 a boy for attendance.

Even worse, the research says, because more boys were having clinical circumcisions, "the school leaders have resorted to ... abducting males to these schools".

Deaths from ritual circumcision mostly happened in impoverished rural and peri-urban communities.

The ancient rite used to be about preparing youngsters for manhood.

Calling many "circumcision schools" fakes - and deadly - Ncayiyana said three interventions could save many lives:


Citation:

Back to News 2003 Back to the News 2003 page.


The Circumcision Information and Resource Pages are a not-for-profit educational resource and library. IntactiWiki hosts this website but is not responsible for the content of this site. CIRP makes documents available without charge, for informational purposes only. The contents of this site are not intended to replace the professional medical or legal advice of a licensed practitioner.

Top   © CIRP.org 1996-2024 | Please visit our sponsor and host: IntactiWiki.