Genital Autonomy
Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 9:00AM 
With special guest:
- Paul Mason
Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy is May 7
We ask all the questions that others don’t dare! In today’s program we explore a topic that makes some people want to cross their legs and most people look the other way. And yet everyone has a definite opinion on it.
Our topic is the genital cutting of healthy boys and girls where it has been consented to by their parents. The practice is given a different name for boys, circumcision, whereas for girls in Australia it is usually called for what it is, namely genital mutilation.
Our guest today is Paul Mason who reveals to us that in Australia female genital mutilation constitutes a common law assault. Any doctor who performs female genital mutilation in Australia, even with parental consent or the consent of the female herself is liable to prosecution. This may come as a surprise to some of the cosmetic surgeons who perform this type of operation.
However for boys it is a different story. The painful procedure that is irreversible and usually performed without anaesthesia is given a different name and may be done by anyone the parent chooses. There are no registration requirements at all. The implements sound like they came from a torture chamber and in many cases the sanitation level is appalling.
The reasons given for making their boys undergo this ordeal, namely “it is just a snip”, “I want him to look like his Dad/other kids”, “it is healthier”, do not convince when they are examined logically. Even the religious and cultural rituals are not as absolutely binding as we might have believed.
The good news is that in Australia the rate of circumcision has dropped to 10-15% of healthy boys. In the US it has dropped from 90% to 60% but it is outrageous that it occurs at all. It has even led to death in some cases.
There has been a recent overseas case where a doctor was charged with assault for performing a circumcision. If this is what it takes for the practice to be outlawed then let’s hope it happens soon.
Paul Mason as the former Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner is used to fighting for children’s rights. Join in with him by listening to this program where he states very eloquently and passionately where we should be going with this ancient practice so out of step with the rights of all Australian boy children in the 21st Century.
Listeners are encouraged to join in the AIGA Rally - Worldwide Day of Genital Autonomy on May 7 in Sydney.
Paul Mason
Paul Mason is a Family Law Barrister, a former Tasmanian Children’s Commissioner and the Inaugural Chair of the Australasian Institute for Genital Autonomy. He is the Patron of Genital Autonomy, UK. During his practice in three states over more than thirty years Paul has presented conference papers in Australia and overseas on legal practice and family law as well as human rights, principally those of children and young people.
Song selections by our guest: Imagine by John Lennon & You Don’t Own Me by Dusty Springfield
Note: If this program has raised any issues on intersex please go to the website of OII Australia (Organisation Intersex International Australia).