Circumcision classed as possible child abuse in draft CPS document

Summary

Circumcision is to be classed as a potential form of child abuse under new guidance for prosecutors, amid concerns from judges and coroners about deaths and serious harms caused by the procedure.A draft document by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on “honour-based abuse, forced marriages, and harmful practices”, classes circumcision as a potential crime alongside breast flattening, virginity testing, hymenoplasty and exorcisms.The wording of the document, seen by the Guardian, has alarmed some religious groups, with Jewish and Muslim leaders defending the cultural importance of the practice.The draft CPS guidance states that, unlike female genital mutilation, “there is not a specific criminal offence of carrying out male circumcision”.“However, this can be a painful and harmful practice, if carried out incorrectly or in inappropriate circumstances. It may be a form of child abuse or an offence against the person,” it adds.Last month, a coroner issued warnings about insufficient regulation over who can perform a circumcision after the death of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection in 2023.The case echoed another coroner’s concerns over the death of Oliver Asante-Yeboah who died in 2014 from sepsis after a circumcision was performed on him by a rabbi. According to the Office for National Statistics, since 2001 there have been seven deaths of boys under 18 where circumcision was a factor. At least three of these involved babies who bled to death: Celian Noumbiwe in 2007; Goodluck Caubergs in 2010; and Angelo Ofori-Mintah in 2012. Jonathan Arkush, a former president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and co-chair of Milah UK, which promotes and protects the right of the Jewish community to carry out religious circumcision, said the wording in the draft CPS guidance was misleading.“To suggest that circumcision is in itself a harmful practice, is deeply pejorative and misplaced,” he said. “Any procedure that is carried out inappro...