Norway will not investigate boys’ circumcision

Save the Children had requested an assessment of the ritual of circumcision because the organisation feared that children's rights were not taken into account sufficiently when a law on circumcision was passed in Norway in 2015. Such an assessment should take children's rights and the right to freedom of religion and belief into account, Vart Land reported last week. The report should clarify the ritual's negative and positive consequences, according to the organisation.

However, the Norwegian health minister now says she is not interested in carrying out such an investigation. The Ministry of Health and Care writes in response to the organisation that they understand the concern but that they believe that the law on ritual circumcision "involves a correct balancing of the various considerations", Vart Land reports.

Pain

Minister Ingvild Kjerkol argues that the law regulates who can consent to the circumcision of a minor and sets requirements for providing information, expertise and pain relief. Furthermore, she believes that the ritual under the current regulations does not violate Norway's human rights obligations.

The Norwegian government implemented the Act on Ritual Circumcision in 2015. Its goal is to ensure that circumcisions are carried out responsibly and thus provide access to this religious ritual. There are two public hospitals and a few private companies that are licenced to circumcise.

Rejection

Last year, Denmark had a political debate about boys’ circumcision. But at the end, the Parliament rejected a ban on the ritual, as CNE reported earlier.