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Posted by
Olog-hai
on Thu Sep 26 02:48:28 2013, in response to (EUEUEUEUEU) German court declares religious circumcision to be *criminal*, posted by Olog-hai on Thu Jun 28 21:05:34 2012.
fiogf49gjkf0d The Local
Court bans circumcision over 'psychological' fearsPublished: 26 Sep 2013 09:00 CETA German court has forbidden a woman from having her six-year old son circumcised because of a risk of psychological damage. The decision comes a year after a similar ruling sparked an international outcry.
In July 2012, a court in Cologne said religious circumcision of male infants was tantamount to grievous bodily harm, a criminal act subject to prosecution — prompting furor around the world. In response, German lawmakers were forced to clarify that circumcision was legal.
But now a court in Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia has said a woman was unfit to decide whether doctors performed the religious rite on her six-year-old child because she had not taken into account the psychological harm it would cause him, newspaper the Westdeutsche Allgemeine newspaper reported.
The unnamed woman from Dortmund, who is German-born but of Kenyan descent, wanted to have her son circumcised before visiting Kenya, where it is normal practice for baby boys at birth.
More than 80 percent of the Kenyan adult male population is circumcised. The woman had worried her son would not be accepted as a real man by his relatives there unless he had the operation.
The court said the 31-year-old mother was not fit to make the decision about the operation because neither child nor mother was aware of the risks involved in the procedure — including psychological harm, the newspaper reported.
"In this case there are substantial grounds to suggest that a circumcision sought by the child's mother would damage the psychological well-being of the six-year-old," wrote the higher regional court in Hamm in a ruling at the end of August published on Wednesday.
Potential harm could result from the mother's intention not to be present at the operation, said the court and the fact that the child had already been christened.
Such "damage" was not necessary and should not be allowed, particularly as both mother and child lived in Germany and only traveled to Kenya very rarely, the court said.
The decision upholds an earlier ruling by the family court in Dortmund suggesting the local youth welfare office should have the final say on the matter.
Last December, German lawmakers passed a law stating circumcision was legal as long as the child's health was not put at risk, and that the practitioner carried out the rite in accordance with medical standards.
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