Netherlands

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Flag of The Netherlands

The Netherlands, also known informally as Holland, and more properly as The Kingdom of the Netherlands. The name of the country in Dutch is Nederland. The people are the Dutch and the language spoken is also Dutch. The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy situated in Europe. It is bordered south by Belgium, east by Germany and northwest by the North Sea. The nation includes three islands in the Caribbean Sea.

The Netherlands have a population of about 18,000,000 of which about 5 percent are Muslim migrants.

The Netherlands are strong supporters of human rights.

The Netherlands, unlike the English-speaking nations, have never practiced circumcision of boys. Circumcision is rare in Holland except among ethnic minorities.

Human rights

Council of Europe

The Netherlands became a founder-member of the Council of Europe on 5 May 1949 and therefore subject to the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). Under that Convention the Netherlands may be sued in the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) for alleged human rights violations.

Certain parts of the Convention seem applicable to the non-therapeutic circumcision of minor boys:

  • Article 3: Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
  • Article 5: Everyone has a right to liberty and security of person.
  • Article 8: Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

Resolution no. 1952 (2013) 'Children's right to physical integrity' of the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe, which includes the issue of physical integrity of intersex children for the first time, was adopted on October 1, 2013 following an initiative of the German SPD politician Marlene Rupprecht.[1]

The resolution includes other topics such as the female genital mutilation, the male circumcision for religious reasons, and the submission or coercion of a child to piercings, tattoos or cosmetic surgery.

The resolution calls on all member States to "examine the prevalence of different categories of non-medically justified operations and interventions impacting on the physical integrity of children in their respective countries, as well as the specific practices related to them, and to carefully consider them in light of the best interests of the child in order to define specific lines of action for each of them; initiate focused awareness-raising measures for each of these categories of violation of the physical integrity of children, to be carried out in the specific contexts where information may best be conveyed to families, such as the medical sector (hospitals and individual practitioners), schools, religious communities or service providers; [...]."

This first resolution of its kind by a European institution is not legally binding, but an important signal for further debate and action. It shifts the approach of the point of view of the topic from the current medical domain towards a human rights approach and identifies the right to bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination. It calls the for the end of non-therapeutic cosmetic medical and surgical interventions.[2]

Netherlands Institute of Human Rights

The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) is a part of the University of Utrecht School of Law. SIM (1998) issued a very strong statement against child circumcision.[3]

Male circumcision

A Dutch Member of Parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, proposed that The Dutch Government should consider making the circumcision of boys an offence.[4]

After Ayaan Hirsi Ali asked if male circumcision could be made illegal, Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner claimed that circumcision was not traumatic and he saw no reason to make it illegal,[5] however strong evidence exists that child circumcision is traumatic.[6]

When it was learned in 2004 that Dutch Medicare was paying for religious circumcision rather than medical circumcision, the Health Ministry discontinued payments for circumcision. It was learned that 90 percent of the circumcisions covered by Dutch national health insurance was for religious circumcision rather than medical circumcision. Reportedly, about 17,000 circumcisions are carried out per year.[7]

The Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) (2010) issued a very strong statement against the practice of non-therapeutic child circumcision. The statement cites the lack of any therapeutic or prophylactic value. It also takes a strong position on the human rights violations inherent in non-therapeutic circumcision of minors, including the right to self-determination and the right to physical integrity. the statement has been endorsed by seven specialty medical organisations.[8]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ REFbook Aktor, Mikael (2016): 24, in: Whose Rights? The Danish Debate on Ritual Infant Male Circumcision as a Human Rights Issue. Work: Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion: In Celebration of Tim Jensen's 65th Birthday. Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, Mikael Rothstein (ed.). Sheffield: Equinox Publishing. Pp. 311-24. ISBN 9781781791394. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named resolution1952
  3. ↑ REFbook Smith, Jacqueline (1998): Male Circumcision and the Rights of the Child. Work: To Baehr in Our Minds: Essays in Human Rights from the Heart of the Netherlands (SIM Special No. 21). Mielle Bulterman, Aart Hendriks and Jacqueline Smith (Eds.) (ed.). Utrecht: Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM). Pp. 465-98. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
    Quote: The right to physical integrity has two components: protection against violation of and offenses against the body by others, thus from outside, and the right to determine over one's own body, the right to self-determination. The right to physical integrity is one of the fundamental civil rights. It is a right to "freedom." The government should therefore refrain from interference. However, the government also has a relevant duty of care, namely the stimulation of a climate in which civil rights can achieve a substantive form.
  4. ↑ REFnews (4 October 2004)."Dutch MP wants ban on male circumcision", Radio Hilversum. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
    Quote: The MP, who is often in the news for her controversial views on integration, says circumcision can have long-term damaging effects.
  5. ↑ REFnews (7 October 2004)."Justice Minister against outlawing circumcision", Radio Netherlands. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  6. ↑ REFjournal Taddio A, Katz J, Ilersich AL, Gideon K. Effect of neonatal circumcision on pain response during subsequent routine vaccination. Lancet. 1 March 1997; 342(9052): 599-603. PMID. DOI. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  7. ↑ REFnews (17 December 2004)."Unkind cut: Dutch medicare halts coverage for male circumcision", Canadian Press. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  8. ↑ REFdocument Kruseman, Arie Nieuwenhuijzen: Non-therapeutic circumcision of male minors PDF, Royal Dutch Medical Association. (27 May 2010). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
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