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The [https://www.sum.dk/English.aspx Danish Health Ministry] (2016) announced that, beginning in 2017, all circumcisions, regardless of where they take place, will need to be reported to Denmark’s national patient registry (''Landspatientregistret'').<ref name="danishdoctors2016" />
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→Recent developments: Add text and citation.
[[File:Flag_of_Denmark.svg|thumb|150px|Flag of Denmark]]
'''Denmark''', officially the '''Kingdom of Denmark''', is a constitutional monarchy. The parliament is called the ''Folketing''. The parliament is a unicameral body of 179 members.<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Constitution of Denmark
==Nordic view of non-therapeutic circumcision of boys.==
Denmark is a Nordic nation in Northern Europe. Like other Nordic nations, the people abhor child non-therapeutic [[circumcision]].
Denmark has taken the leading role in challenging the legitimacy of circumcision. In 2003, the country’s Children’s Ombudsman classified circumcision as a violation of children’s rights. In 2008, the National Children’s Council proposed a ban on circumcising all children under the age of fifteen, which would have made the Jewish brit mila a crime.<ref>{{REFjournal |url=http://www.thetower.org/article/the-scandal-of-scandinavia/ |title=The Scandal of Scandinavia |date=2013-04 |last=Hoare |first=Liam |init=L |journal=The Tower Magazine |accessdate=2020-12-25}}</ref> In 2013, children's ombudsmen from [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], [[Finland]], Denmark, and Iceland, along with the Chair of the Danish Children's Council and the children's spokesperson for Greenland, passed a resolution that emphasized the decision to be circumcised should belong to the individual, who should be able to give [[informed consent]].<ref name="resolution2">{{REFweb
|last=Nordic Association of Children's Ombudsmen
|title=Let the boys decide for themselves
}}[] Tuesday, 1 October 2013</ref>
The Nordic Association of Clinical Sexologists (2013) supports the position of the Nordic Association of Ombudsmen who reason that circumcision violates the individual's [[human rights ]] by denying the male child his ability to make the decision for himself.<ref name="nordicsexologits2013">{{REFdocument
|title=Statement on Non-Therapeutic Circumcision of Boys
|url=http://nacs.eu/data/press_release001.pdf
The ''Right to Security of Person'' is provided by Article Five of the ECHR.
Resolution no. 1952 (2013) 'Children's right to physical integrity'<ref name="resolution1952">{{REFdocument
|title=Children's right to physical integrity
|url=http://semantic-pace.net/tools/pdf.aspx?doc=aHR0cDovL2Fzc2VtYmx5LmNvZS5pbnQvbncveG1sL1hSZWYvWDJILURXLWV4dHIuYXNwP2ZpbGVpZD0yMDE3NCZsYW5nPUVO&xsl=aHR0cDovL2Fzc2VtYmx5LmNvZS5pbnQvbncveG1sL3hzbC1mby9QZGYvWFJlZi1XRC1BVC1YTUwyUERGLnhzbA==&xsltparams=ZmlsZWlkPTIwMTc0
|contribution=
|last=
|first=
|publisher=Parliamentary Assembly
|format=PDF
|date=2013-10-01
|accessdate=2020-11-05
}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="aktor2016">{{REFbook
|last=Aktor
|first=Mikael
|init=M
|author-link=Mikael Aktor
|year=2016
|title=Whose Rights? The Danish Debate on Ritual Infant Male Circumcision as a Human Rights Issue
|url=https://www.academia.edu/22644864
|work=Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion: In Celebration of Tim Jensen's 65th Birthday
|editor=Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, Mikael Rothstein
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=24
|pages=311-24
|location=Sheffield
|publisher=Equinox Publishing
|isbn=9781781791394
|quote=
|accessdate=2021-01-18
|note=
}}</ref>
The resolution includes other topics such as the [[FGM|female genital mutilation]], the [[MGM|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.
===ICCPR===
Denmark is a state-party to the ''[[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]]'' (1967).
====Article two====
|accessdate=2020-10-05
}}</ref>
Denmark has not complied with its pledge with regard to protection of the rights of boys which are violated by non-therapeutic child circumcision.
===CRC===
Denmark is a state-party to the ''Convention on the Rights of the Child'' (1989).<ref name="aktor2016" />
====Article two====
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
This means that all children, male and female, and regardless of parental religious views, shall enjoy the same [[human rights]].
====Article twelve====
3. States Parties shall take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.<ref name="crc1989"/>
</blockquote>
Male circumcision always results in the permanent and irreversible loss of the [[foreskin]], a structure with protective, immunological, sexual, and sensory functions. The loss of the protective and immunological functions are harmful to physical health. The loss of the sensory and sexual functions are harmful to [[https://en.intactiwiki.org/index.php/Sexual_effects_of_circumcision| sexual]] and [[Psychological issues of male circumcision| mental]] health. We have long known that non-therapeutic circumcision of children sometimes results in [[death]]. [[Douglas Gairdner]] (1949) reported circumcision caused nineteen deaths in England and Wales in 1946.<ref name="fate1949">{{REFjournal |last=Gairdner |first=D.M. |title=The fate of the foreskin: a study of circumcision |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=2 |issue=4642 |pages=1433-7 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2051968/pdf/brmedj03656-0009.pdf |quote= |pubmedID=15408299 |pubmedCID=2051968 |DOI=10.1136/bmj.2.4642.1433 |date=GairdnerDM 1949 |accessdate=2020-02-02}}</ref> Bollinger (2010) estimated 117 deaths per year in the United States.<ref name="bollinger2010">{{REFjournal
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|init=D
|author-link=Dan Bollinger
|last2=Boy's Health Advisory
|accessdate=2020-10-05
}}</ref>
Denmark has ''not'' fulfilled its several promises to protect the [[human rights]] of boys.
==Medical science==
Denmark has produced important medical studies regarding the [[foreskin]].
[[Jakob Øster]], a Danish physician in Randers, Denmark who conducted school examinations, reported his findings on the examination of school-boys in Denmark, where circumcision is rare. Øster (1968) found that the incidence of fusion of the foreskin with the glans penis steadily declines with increasing age and foreskin retractability increases with age.<ref name="Øster1968">{{REFjournal |last=Øster |first=Jakob |author-link=Jakob Øster |etal=no |title=Further Fate of the Foreskin: Incidence of Preputial Adhesions, Phimosis, and Smegma among Danish Schoolboys |trans-title= |language=English |journal=Arch Dis Child |location= |date=OesterJ 1968 |volume=43 |issue= |pages=200-3 |url=https://adc.bmj.com/content/archdischild/43/228/200.full.pdf |archived= |quote= |pubmedID=5689532 |pubmedCID=2019851 |DOI=10.1136/adc.43.228.200 |accessdate=2020-10-04}}</ref>
[[Morten Frisch]] ''et al''. (2011) produced an important study elucidating the relationship between [[circumcision]] and sexual function difficulties.<ref name="frisch2011">{{REFjournal |last=Frisch |first=Morten |author-link=Morten Frisch |last2=Lindholm |first2=Morten |author2-link= |last3=Grønbæk |first3=Morten |author3-link= |etal=no |title=Male circumcision and sexual function in men and women: a survey-based, cross-sectional study in Denmark. |journal=Int J Epidemiol. |location= |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=1367 |url=https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/40/5/1367/658163 |quote= |pubmedID=21672947 |pubmedCID= |DOI=10.1093/ije/dyr104 |date=FrischM LindholmM GroenbaekM 2011-06-14 |accessdate=2020-10-04}}</ref>
Morten & Simonsen (2015) of the [https://en.ssi.dk/ Danish National Serum Institute] associate neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision with [https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html#ref autism spectrum disorder].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Frisch
|first=Morten
|init=M
|author-link=
|last2=Simonsen
|first2=Jacob
|init2=J
|author2-link=
|etal=no
|title=Ritual circumcision and risk of autism spectrum disorder in 0- to 9-year-old boys: national cohort study in Denmark
|journal=J R Soc Med
|location=
|accessdate=2020-10-05
}}</ref>
[[Morten Frisch]] and Jacob Simonsen (2021) carried out a large scale population study regarding the alleged value of male circumcision in preventing [[HIV]] and other sexually transmitted infection in men. They found that circumcised men have a higher rate of STI and [[HIV]] infection overall than intact men.<ref name="frisch2021">{{FrischM SimonsenJ 2021}}</ref>
==Intactivist organizations==
* [[Intact Denmark]]
* [[Just a Snip]]
==Recent developments==
The Danish Health and Medicines Authority ([https://www.sst.dk/da Sundhedsstyrelsen]) issued guidelines for ritual infant [non-therapeutic] male circumcision (RIMC} in 2005.<ref name="aktor2016" />
State hospitals in Denmark have not performed circumcisions since 2009, except in rare cases of medical need.<ref name="aktor2016" />
Only medical doctors may perform surgical operations, however an assistant may perform the operation if a medical doctors is standing by.<ref name="aktor2016" />
The Danish Association of General Medicine (2014) declared:
<blockquote>The Health Agency has sent 'Guidance on Circumcision of Boys' in consultation. The DSAM's [Board] of Directors has discussed the draft consultation and agree that circumcision may only be performed when there is a [[medical indication ]] for it. If circumcision is performed without a [[medical indication]], it is a case of mutilation.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.arclaw.org/news/danish-doctors-call-circumcision-mutilation
|title=Doctors are now speaking out: circumcision is a violation and should be banned
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
According to a poll taken in 2016, eighty-seven percent of Danes favor a ban on non-therapeutic circumcision of children.<ref>{{REFnews
}}</ref>
Aktor (2016) reported that Jewish parents who want a son to have a [[Jewish circumcision| ritual circumcision]] may go the the chief rabbi, who will act as a ''[[mohel]]'' and perform the circumcision under the supervision of a medical doctor, while Muslim parents may choose to have the operation performed at a private clinic. Aktor believes that Denmark eventually will ban non-therapeutic child circumcision.<ref name="aktor2016" /> The [https://www.sum.dk/English.aspx Danish Health Ministry] (2016) announced that, beginning in 2017, all circumcisions, regardless of where they take place, will need to be reported to Denmark’s national patient registry (''Landspatientregistret'').<ref name="danishdoctors2016" /> The percentage of males [[circumcised]] in Denmark (prevalence) is reported to be 5.3%.<ref>{{REFweb |url=https://circstatistics.github.io/ |title=Global Circumcision Statistics and Estimates |last= |first= |init= |publisher=https://circstatistics.github.io |date=2024-04-01 |accessdate=2024-04-01}}</ref> === Citizens proposal ===[[Intact Denmark]] circulated a [[citizens petitionproposal]], which received the necessary 50,000 signatures to require consideration of a ban on child, was presented to the Folketing in September 2018.<ref>{{REFnews
|title=Danish MPs to vote on under-18s circumcision ban
|url=http://cphpost.dk/?p=100597
}}</ref>
Mette Frederiksen, [https://www.stm.dk/ Prime Minister of Denmark], argues argued that an alleged promise made to Jews in the aftermath of World War II takes precedence over Denmark's clear obligations under international law of [[human rights ]] to protect the [[human rights ]] of its citizens, including boys.<ref>{{REFnews
|title=Denmark refuses to ban the ritual circumcision of boys
|url=http://cphpost.dk/?p=118305
On {{date|2020-09-21}} [[Morten Frisch]] and 41 of his colleagues (chief physicians, specialists, ward doctors and junior doctors) protested the knee-jerk reaction to religious pressure in an [[Danish open letter to Danish Agency for Patient Safety|open letter]] to the [https://en.stps.dk/en/ Danish Patient Safety Authority].<ref>{{REFdocument
|title=Letter of Complaint
|url=https://en.intactiwiki.org/index.php/Danish_open_letter_to_Danish_Agency_for_Patient_Safety
|quote=When Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen claims to want to fight anti-Semitism in Denmark, it does not benefit the case that she and her government almost equate circumcision resistance and anti-Semitism, let a painful and destructive ritual like boy circumcision continue at the request of religious Danish Jews and at the same time let consideration to 'Jewish law' make it impossible to ensure proper surgery and optimal pain relief for the - predominantly Muslim - boys, who in future come under the knife, as long as the ritual is legal in Denmark.
|last=Frisch
|first=Morten
|first3=Kasper
|author3-link=
|last4=Asserhøj,
|first4=Lisbeth
|author4-link=
|first7=Lise
|author7-link=
|date=2020-09-21
|accessdate=2020-10-05
}}</ref>
Ninety members constitute a majority of the 179 member Folketing. Thus far, a majority in favor of prohibiting non-therapeutic circumcision of boys had not existed.
[[David Balashinsky]], a Jewish-American man and opponent of non-therapeutic child circumcision, published an open letter to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Monday, 12 October 2020 in support of the Citizen Initiative to Establish 18 as the Minimum Age for Non-therapeutic Circumcision in Denmark.<ref name="balashinsky2020">{{REFweb
|url=https://dbalablog.blogspot.com/2020/10/an-open-letter-to-prime-minister-mette.html
|title=An Open Letter to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Support of the Citizen Initiative to Establish 18 as the Minimum Age for Non-therapeutic Circumcision in Denmark
|last=Balashinsky
|first=David
|author-link=David Balashinsky
|date=2020-10-12
|accessdate=2021-02-23
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFnews
|title=Kære Mette Frederiksen: Tvungen omskæring af mindreårige er i strid med menneskerettighederne og jødedommen – åbent brev fra USA
|url=https://pov.international/borgerforslag-omskaering-abent-brev-statsminister/
|last=Balashinsky
|first=David
|author-link=David Balashinsky
|publisher=POV International
|date=2021-02-23
|accessdate=2021-02-23
}}</ref>
The United States of America, through its ambassador, is actively interfering in Danish internal affairs, to prevent the protection of the [[human rights]] of boys.<ref>{{REFnews
|title=USA er bekymret over danske planer om at forbyde omskæring
|url=https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/danmark/usa-er-bekymret-over-danske-planer-om-forbyde-omskaering
|last=Hein
|first=Niels
|coauthors=
|publisher=Kristeligt Dagblad
|website=
|date=2021-02-19
|accessdate=2021-02-20
|quote=
}}</ref>
DR (2021) reported a recent survey which found that 73.43 percent of Danes favour prohibiting non-therapeutic circumcision of boys who have not reached their eighteenth birthday.<ref>{{REFnews
|title=Kun hver tiende dansker er enig med Frederiksen og Ellemann i, at omskæring af drenge fortsat skal være tilladt
|trans-title=
|language=Danish
|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/kun-hver-tiende-dansker-er-enig-med-frederiksen-og-ellemann-i-omskaering-af-drenge#!/
|last=Henriksen
|first=Morten
|author-link=
|last2=Svensen
|first2=Anders Bykov
|author2-link=
|last3=Christensen
|first3=Rasmus Bøttcher
|author3-link=
|last4=Larsen
|first4=Søren
|author4-link=
|etal=no
|coauthors=
|publisher=DR
|website=https://www.dr.dk
|date=2021-04-20
|accessdate=2021-04-20
|quote=The country's two largest parties are so out of touch with voters when it comes to circumcising male children.
}}</ref>
The Folketing considered the [[citizens proposal]] initiated by [[Intact Denmark]] that would have prohibited non-therapeutic circumcision of boys who had not reached their eighteenth birthday. The proposal failed with a vote of 34 in favor and 64 against. The total number of members who voted was 98. Eighty-one members (45 percent) failed to vote.
==Videos==
<center>
<br>
<youtube>LopXuAUIReU</youtube>
</br>
</center>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Intakt Norden]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFnews
|title=Denmark Doctors Declare Circumcision Of Healthy Boys 'Ethically Unacceptable'
|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/denmarks-29000-doctors-declare-circumcision-of-healthy_b_58753ec1e4b08052400ee6b3
|last=Frisch
|first=Morten
|coauthors=
|publisher=Huffpost
|website=
|date=2017-04-22
|accessdate=2021-08-28
|quote=
}}
{{REF}}
[[Category:Denmark]]
[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Male circumcision]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[de:Dänemark]]