The Humanist Association of Germany supports a current petition to the German Bundestag calling for a two-year moratorium and the establishment of a round table to discuss the circumcision of boys who are unable to give consent.
“The German Bundestag may decide not to take any legal steps to legalize the non-therapeutic circumcision of boys in Germany for an initial period of two years,” states petition no. 26078, which was submitted to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag for approval a few weeks ago on the initiative of German Children’s Aid and was ultimately rejected by the Petitions Committee despite broad civil society support in advance.
The reason given for the rejection was that there were already two petitions calling for a general ban or a general permission for the ritual circumcision of boys who are unable to give consent.
The Humanist Association of Germany also spoke out against the unnecessarily hasty focus on these two diametrically opposed goals and called for support for petition no. 26078, which was joined by numerous other associations and organizations, including the Professional Association of Paediatricians and Adolescent Doctors, the Association of German Criminal Investigators, MOGIS e.V. (Association of Victims of Child Sexual Abuse), the New Association of Judges, the Federal Association TERRE DES FEMMES – Human Rights for Women e.V., MANNdat e.V. – Gender Policy Initiative, the German Foster Parents’ Association, the German Association of Foster Parents, and numerous individuals from the fields of law, medicine, child and youth welfare. MANNdat e.V. – Gender Policy Initiative, the German Foster Parents’ Association and numerous individuals from the fields of law, medicine, child and youth welfare.
The petitioners of petition no. 26078 form a fact- and reason-oriented network that is firmly focused on the special responsibility arising from German history, religious freedom, the integration of Jewish and Muslim life in Germany and the obligation of our state and our society to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The German Bundestag should therefore decide to set up a round table with experts from the religious communities and specialist areas concerned in order to discuss the topic of circumcision in a scientifically sound manner and to develop solutions that take all interests into account, but above all the interests of the child.
The publication of petition no. 26078 on a specially created petition platform is intended to provide an opportunity to publicly document solidarity with the children affected and the call for the debate to be objectified and slowed down.
The petition can be signed here: http://die-petition.de/
Addendum of September 13, 2012: In response to the alliance’s press conference, the petition was activated in the petition system of the German Bundestag. The petition can now also be signed directly at the German Bundestag.
Further information:
diesseits.de: Circumcision: associations call for round table. Members of the Bundestag speak out
