{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T06:07:46Z","timestamp":1782799666267,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J Med Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2004,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Despite global and local attempts to end genital mutilation, in their various forms, whether of males or females, the practice has persisted throughout human history in most parts of the world. Various medical, scientific, hygienic, aesthetic, religious, and cultural reasons have been used to justify it. In this symposium on circumcision, against the background of the other articles by Hutson, Short, and Viens, the practice is set by the author within a wider, global context by discussing a range of rationalisations used to support different types of genital mutilation throughout time and across the globe. It is argued that in most cases the rationalisations invented to provide support for continuing the practice of genital mutilation\u2014whether male or female\u2014within various cultural and religious settings have very little to do with finding a critical and reflective moral justification for these practices. In order to question the ethical acceptability of the practice in its non-therapeutic forms, we need to focus on child rights protection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2004.008888","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2004,6,1]],"date-time":"2004-06-01T14:18:04Z","timestamp":1086099484000},"page":"248-253","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":58,"title":["Rationalising circumcision: from tradition to fashion, from public health to individual freedom\u2014critical notes on cultural persistence of the practice of genital mutilation"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"30","author":[{"given":"S K","family":"Hellsten","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2004,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2002.001313"},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jme.2003.003921"},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.3","first-page":"241","volume":"30","year":"2004","journal-title":"J Med Ethics"},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.4","unstructured":"Aldeeb Abu-Salieh SA. Muslims\u00e2\u0080\u0099 genitalia in the hands of the clergy: religious arguments about male and female circumcision. In: Denniston GC, Mansfield Hodges F, Fayre Milos M, eds. Male and female circumcision: medical, legal, and ethical considerations in pediatric practice. New York: Kluwer Academic\/Plenum, 1999:131\u00e2\u0080\u009371."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.5","unstructured":"Bigelow JD. Evangelical Christianity and its relation to infant male circumcision. In: Denniston GC, Mansfield Hodges F, Fayre Milos M, eds. Male and female circumcision: medical, legal, and ethical considerations in pediatric practice. New York: Kluwer Academic\/Plenum, 1999:173\u00e2\u0080\u00937."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.6","unstructured":"Anon. Female genital mutilation. Echo. Bilingual Quarterly of the Association of African Women for Research and Development. 2001; Oct 6 :2."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.7","first-page":"31","volume":"40","year":"1986","journal-title":"WHO Chronicle"},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.8","unstructured":"Toubia N . Female genital mutilation. In: Peters J, Wolper A, eds. Women\u00e2\u0080\u0099s rights, human rights. London: Routledge, 1995:2\u00e2\u0080\u00937."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.9","unstructured":"Mill JS. On liberty. New York: Prometheus Books, 1986."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.10","unstructured":"Mill JS. Utilitarianism. New York: Prometheus Books, 1997."},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1468-5930.00109"},{"key":"2025092413221514000_30.3.248.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hellsten SK. Multicultural issues in maternal fetal medicine. In: Dickenson DL, ed. Ethical issues in maternal fetal medicine. 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