So What Is The Trouble Down Under With Circumcision?
In Australia, less than 1/3 of men and boys under 30 have been circumcised. The Darbon Institute, (a pro-foreskin organisation operating in Australia) suggest that only 10-20% of infant boys are still put through the unnecessary non-therapeutic circumcision surgery each year, showing progressive trend for consent as families recognise this practice as unnecessary.
This is still much higher than the UK, as rates fell significantly from 35% in the 1930’s to less than 6.5% in 1980.
Whilst the trend has died out in the UK amongst the general population, Australia is a very interesting case. The trend was set by the UK as an ex-colony, but as the public sentiment in the UK changed, Australia continued the practice. Currently, the rate of circumcision is dropping at a rate of roughly 1% per year in Australia, following a similar trend that the UK did as it lost popularity.
“After reviewing the currently available evidence, the RACP believes that the frequency of diseases modifiable by circumcision, the level of protection offered by circumcision and the complication rates of circumcision do not warrant routine infant circumcision in Australia and New Zealand.”
– The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, September 2010
To this day, there are still public figures in Australia that are financially and emotionally attached to endorsing circumcision. Occasionally, they are incapable of even recognising criticisms and concerns of the practice opting for ignorance rather than addressing these concerns objectively. This typifies the level of debate around the subject showing how much research, work, and education there is to be done in Australia to better inform the public.
…Unlike the boomerang, the foreskin doesn’t come back once thrown away.
“Why amputate when you can celebrate?!”
– Foreskin revolution believe in celebrating the natural foreskin and its power to give sensation, protection, connection and lubrication
We Now Have A Team Member Down Under!
15 Square has said “bon voyage” to a member of our team who has moved over to Australia.
It is our hope that this will allow us to link in with the other organisations doing great work out there and to collaborate on joint projects.
We would like to wish Louise, our marketing manager the best of luck ‘down under’ and hope that 15 Square can continue to help educate and support men who have been affected by circumcision.
Find out more about some of the other organisations and their ongoing campaigns to provide information in Australia, an important country for raising awareness of the psychological and physical harms of circumcision.
The Darbon Institute:
“We advocate for everyone’s right to bodily integrity and genital autonomy, and educate the public, medical profession and government about the harms of non-consensual, medically unnecessary genital cutting and other body alterations so that these practices come to an end.”
Foreskin Revolution is a human rights movement that uses art, politics and popular culture to spread the core messages – that the normal, whole body is awesome with the foreskin being the most enjoyable part of the body, and that circumcision of a healthy child is an assault on that body that needs to end. We wrap all of this in a revolutionary spirit that holds a place for everyone – cut men and their partners who resent it, intact men who are sick of the body shaming or anyone who understands that our society needs to move beyond this harmful practice.
We invite everyone to rise up and join the Foreskin Revolution!
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