Sixth International Symposium

The Sixth International Symposium on Genital Integrity convened in Wesley College at the University of Sydney, Sidney, New South Wales, Australia on December 7-9, 2000.

Faculty

Seham Abd el Salam Muhammed, MD, research fellow, Department of Sociology-Anthropology, the American University in Cairo, member of the Egyptian FGM Task Force, founder of Resource Center of FGM Cairo, Egypt.
John Aldous, co-founder E.B.-N.O.R.M. (Everyman’s Birthright - National Organization of Restoring Men). Everard Park, South Australia.
Zenas Baer, JD, attorney concentrating on Federal Civil Rights Litigation. Hawley, Minnesota, USA. Jeannine Parvati Baker, MS, co-founder, Six Directions non-profit educational organisation, author and lecturer. Joseph, Utah, USA.
Peter Ball, MA, MB, B.Chir., retired family practitioner, producer and director, non-surgical foreskin restoration video. Turnbridge Wells, Kent, UK.
Gillian A. Bensley conducted research study for Bachelor of Social Science(Honours) degree in Psychology. Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Daniel H. Bollinger, III, BA, founder and Director, Wabash Men’s Council,Indiana, USA.
Charles Bonner, JD, civil rights, personal injury, and medical malpractice attorney. Sausalito, California, USA.
Gregory J. Boyle, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Bond University. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Mary Conant, RN, conscientious objector to circumcision, co-founder, Nurses for the Rights of the Child. Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
Robert Darby, PhD, scholar and editor, researched the history of the rise and decline of routine circumcision in Australia for his book on the subject. Canberra, Australia.
Paul Fleiss, MD, MPH, paediatrician. Los Angeles, California, USA.
Tracey Gemmel, candidate for Postgraduate Diploma of Professional Psychology, Bond University. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Pia Grassivaro Gallo, PhD, associate professor, general biology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Padua. Padua, Italy.
Yngve Hofvander, paediatrician, Professor, International Child Health, Uppsala University, Sweden, consultant to the Swedish International Development Authority, World Health Organization, and UNICEF. Uppsala, Sweden.
Frederick Mansfield Hodges, DPhil (Oxon), medical historian, co-editor, Male and Female Circumcision: Medical, Legal, and Ethical Considerations in Pediatric Practice (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press 1999). University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. LeYoni Junos, Director, Amnesty International Bermuda, Bermuda Human Rights Commissioner. Hamilton, Bermuda.
Michael Katz, MD, Vice President of Research for the March of Dimes. White Plains, New York, USA. DaiSik Kim, PhD, Professor, Department of Physics, Seoul National University. Seoul, Korea. Sae Chul Kim, MD, Department of Urology, College of Medicine, Chung Ang University, Seoul, Korea.
Tina Kimmel, MSW, MPH, doctoral candidate in public health, University of California, Berkeley, Director, NOCIRC of California – East Bay. Oakland, California, USA.
Peter Lawrence, MS, doctoral candidate, University of Sydney, counsellor,and founder of UNCIRC of Australia in 1994. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Els Leye, Female Genital Mutilation Project Coordinator, International Centre for Reproductive Health. Ghent, Belgium.
Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, MA, cross-cultural sexologist and clinical supervisor,The American Board of Sexology, author, Prisoners of Ritual: An Odyssey Into Female Genital Mutilation, A Woman’s Odyssey into Africa: Tracks Across a Life, and Genital Surgery and the Rights of Children. Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Linda Massie, BSc, PG/Dip, founder and Director, NOCIRC of Northern Ireland. Glen gormley, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Brett McCann, Counsellor, Sexual Health Clinic, Sydney Hospital, President, Australasian Sexual Health Counsellors Society. Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Kenneth A. McGrath, VRD, Msc(Hons), LIBiol, MNZIMLS, RNZNVR (Rtd), Senior Lecturer in Pathology, Faculty of Health Studies, Auckland University of Technology. Auckland, New Zealand.
Marilyn Milos, RN, co-founder and Director, NationalOrganization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers(NOCIRC), Coordinator, International Symposia on Genital Integrity. San Anselmo, California, USA.
Pandy S. Ndimwibo, BA SWASA, DIP PPM, PGD Counselling,Chairman of the Uganda Reproductive Health Bureau. Kampala, Uganda, Africa.
Juliana Nkrumah, MS, Community Education and Development Officer, NSW Education Program on FGM, Ethnic Affairs Commission of NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Myung-Geol Pang, PhD, GenDix, Co., Korea, Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Population, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University. Seoul, Korea.
Shane Peterson, PhD, International Office for Men’s Health and Gender Studies, School of Nursing and Public Health, Edith Cowan University. Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Royal Phillips, CBE, international childbirth instructor, columnist, Montecito Journal. Santa Barbara, California, USA.
Samuel M. Ramos conducted research study for Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) degree in Psychology at Bond University. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Samuel Richmond, BA, MLS, librarian and Director, NOCIRC of California - Irvine. Irvine, California, USA.
William Sides, Managing Director of Sides Engineering, developed the “Pill Tube” foreskin restoration method. Wheelers Hill, Victoria,Australia.
Morris Sorrells, MD, retired paediatrician, consultant. Atherton, California, USA.
J. Steven Svoboda, JD, founder and Director, Attorneys for the Rights of the Child (ARC), Berkeley, California, USA.
Moisés Tractenberg, MD, psychoanalyst, author, Director, NOCIRC of Brazil. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
John W. Travis, MD, MPH, founder and co-director, Wellness Associates, author, Wellness Inventory and the Wellness Workbook, co-founder, International Coalition for Genital Integrity, co-founder, Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children. East Gipsland, Victoria, Australia.
J. Neville Turner, LLB (Hons), BA, barrister and solicitor, authored six books and numerous articles on child and family law, board member and former president of Oz Child. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Franco Viviani, PhD, professor, physical education, cultural anthropology, and general biology, University of Padua. Padua, Italy.
Shelton Harrison Walden, BA, Executive Producer and host, Walden’s Pond, WBAI radio, teacher, High School for Environmental Studies. New York, New York, USA.
John Warren, MB, DCH, FRCP, founder and Director, National Organization of Restoring Men (NORM-UK), Director, NOCIRC of UK. Harlow, Essex, UK.
Norma Wilcox, RN, MS, Director, Urological/GynecologicalTeaching Associate Programs, Stanford University and University of California/San Francisco Schools of Medicine and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. San Francisco, California, USA.
George Williams, MB, ChB, FRACP, consultant paediatrician/perinatologist, founder and Director, NOCIRC of Australia. Menai, New South Wales, Australia.
Hugh Young, BSc, journalist and radio producer, Auckland, Whangarei, Honiara (Solomon Islands), Gisborne, and Wellington. Pukerua Bay, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin, PhD, Avraham Kahana, and Ronit Tamir, members, The Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation. Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin, PhD, currently a medical student in Australia is Director, The Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation. Sturt, South Australia, Australia.

Proceedings

Thursday, 7 December

0800–0900: Registration
0900–0915: Welcome and Opening Remarks• Marilyn Milos and George Williams
0915–1000: Keynote Address: Ending Enforced Genital Cutting of Children and Violation of Their Human Rights: Ethical, Psychological and Legal Considerations• Gregory J. Boyle
1000–1115: An Overview • George Williams, Moderator
Historical Revisionism in Recent Medical History: An Exposé and Analysis • Frederick Mansfield Hodges
A Source of Serious Mischief: The Demonisation of the Foreskin and the Rise of Preventive Circumcision in Australia, 1880–1930 • Robert Darby
Compulsion to Circumcise is Constant, the Reasons Keep Changing • Michael Katz
1115–1130: Break
1130–1300: Legal and Ethical Considerations of Genital Mutilation • George Williams, Moderator
Comparative Legal Analysis of Body Mutilation Practices on Children • J. Steven Svoboda
Equal Protection Case Studies in the Scope and Limit of Gender-Based Discrimination Under State and Federal Constitutions • Zenas Baer
Human Rights of Children in the New Millennium: Legal Developments in the Fight for Children’s Genital Integrity Throughout the World • Charles Bonner
Doctors, Be Warned! Circumcise Today and You Could Be Sued Tomorrow! • J. Neville Turner
1300–1430: Lunch
1430–1600: Religious Considerations • Tina Kimmel, Moderator
An Epistolary Debate with David Ben Gurion About Jewish Circumcision: The Psychoanalytic Outlook • Moisés Tractenberg
Attitude, Knowledge, and Change Among Israeli Jewish Students Regarding Male Genital Mutilation • Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin, Avraham Kahana, Ronit Tamir Bris Shalem:
Toward a Covenant of Wholeness • Samuel Richmond
Limitations to Practices of a Belief or Religion in International Human Rights Law – Case Study: Genital Mutilation in the Judaic Tradition • LeYoni Junos
1600–1615: Break
1615–1700: Breaking Through Medical and Media Bias• Tina Kimmel, Moderator
The White Coat of Silence: How to Create Change in Medical School Curricula and Survive Physician Opposition • Norma Wilcox
The Struggle for Media Access and International Recognition • Shelton Harrison Walden
1700–1730: Discussion

Friday, 8 December

0800–0900: Registration
0900–1115: International News • Peter Ball, Moderator
A Review of Circumcision in New Zealand: “I never liked doing them and I was pleased to give it up.”• Hugh Young and Kenneth A. McGrath
Circumcision Rates in UK Males • John Warreny
Prevention of Genital Mutilation: A Community Research and Development Project in Northern Ireland • Linda Massie
Circumcision of Boys in Sweden: Proposal for Government Regulation • Yngve Hofvander
Prince for a Day: The Sumbawa Circumcision Ritual• Royal Phillips
Discussion
1115–1130: Break
1130–1300: Female Genital Mutilation• Juliana Nkrumah, Moderator
FGM: Getting the Debate Happening at the Grassroots – The Australian Experience • Juliana Nkrumah
Egyptian Intellectuals and Genital Integrity• Seham Abd el Salam Mohammed
Female Circumcision: Its Effects on the Reproductive Health of Adolescents • Pandy Ndimwibo
The Struggle Against Female Genital Mutilation/Female Circumcision: The European Experience • Els Leye
1300-1430: Lunch
1430-1545: Female Genital Mutilation (continued) Sunna Budnin:
An Alternative Ritual to Infibulation,Invented and Carried Out in the Merka District, Somalia • Pia Grassivaro Gallo and Franco Viviani
Genital Mutilation of Children: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going? • Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
1545-1630: International Symposia on Genital Integrity Award Presentations • Marilyn Milos, Moderator
1630–1645: Break
1645–1730: Address of the Recipient of the Human Rights Award: Over 100% Circumcision Rate: The Short and Bizarre History of South Korean Circumcision DaiSik Kim, Myung-Geol Pang, Sae Chul Kim

Saturday, 9 December

0800–0900: Registration
0900–1115: Psychological Aspects of Genital Mutilation• Gregory J. Boyle, Moderator
Sigmund Freud, Male Circumcision and the Mind: A Psychoanalytic Review • George Williams
Physical, Sexual, and Psychological Impact of Male Infant Circumcision: An Exploratory Study • Gillian A. Bensley and Gregory J. Boyle
Neonatal Circumcision: Long-Term Harmful Effects• Tracey Gemmel and Gregory J. Boyle
Ritual and Medical Circumcision Among Filipino Boys: Evidence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder • Samuel M. Ramos and Gregory J. Boyle
Counselling Approaches for Acute Post-Circumcision Stress Disorder: A Case Study • Brett McCann and Peter Lawrence
How to Respond to the Doctor Who Says You Must Circumcise Your Son • Paul Fleiss
1115–1130: Break
1130–1300: What Exactly Is Lost With Genital Cutting? • Morris Sorrells, Moderator
Separation of the Two Sensory Platforms of the Human Penis• Kenneth A. McGrath
A Novel Research Study in Assessing Penile Sensitivity/Insensitivity Without a Measuring Device • Peter Lawrence
Touch-Test Sensory Evaluation Research: Preliminary Findings• Morris Sorrells and Tina Kimmel
Discussion
1300–1430: Lunch
1430–1500: Addressing the Wounds • Peter Ball, Moderator
Assaulted and Mutilated: A Personal Account of Circumcision Trauma • Shane Peterson
1500-1630: Concurrent Session A: Male Genital Mutilation and Foreskin Restoration • Peter Ball, Moderator
Circumcision: A Festering Wound • Daniel H. Bollinger, III
Current Foreskin Restoration Practices in Australia • John M. Aldous
A report on the evolution and growth of foreskin restoration in Sydney Australia, since 1994 • Peter Lawrence
Doctors, File Information, and Activists Can be Worse than the Circumciser’s Knife • William Sides
Foreskin Restoration: a video • Peter Ball
1500–1630: Concurrent Session B: The Role of Women in Ending Genital Mutilation • Jeannine Parvati Baker, Mary Conant, Linda Massie, Marilyn Fayre Milos, Moderators
1630–1645: Break
1645–1730: Closing Keynote Address: Circumcision as a Part of the Normative Abuse of Children: Essentials for Transforming the Lives of Children John W. Travis
1730–1800: Closing: Jeannine Parvati Baker

The proceedings are published in Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem, edited by George C. Denniston, Frederick Mansfield Hodges, and Marilyn Fayre Milos, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, 2001.

Symposium organisers

Marilyn Fayre Milos, RN, [www.nocirc.org National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers], Dr. George Williams, NOCIRC of Australia, Dr. Gregory J. Boyle, Bond University, and Dr. Frederick Hodges, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of Oxford.

See also

• First International Symposium
• Second International Symposium
• Third International Symposium
• Fourth International Symposium
• Fifth International Symposium