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Behrouz Javid Tehrani

A few days ago, global media outlets reported that Danish doctors insist on banning circumcision for boys under 18 years old. This news has sparked discussions about the physical and psychological effects of circumcision and the significant and indifferent silence of the World Health Organization in the face of these effects on boys.

Previously, there has been a lot of talk about the physical consequences of circumcision, which can lead to the destruction of several specialized nerves in the circumcision area. Many doctors believe that the sensitivity of the sexual organ in circumcised men is significantly lower than in uncircumcised men. However, the discussion about the psychological damage of circumcision, which affects children and can lead to behavioral disorders even in adulthood, is a less addressed issue.

Psychological damage from circumcision even affects newborns, and the use of local anesthesia before the procedure is performed on them. Dr. Ronald Goldman (psychology researcher, educator, and executive director of the Circumcision Resource Center in Boston, USA) believes that trauma from circumcision can also disrupt mother-child relationships in the early days of life and can even continue into adulthood.

One of the issues that causes the reinforcement of negative effects of circumcision on children is that this inhumane act is performed at an age above 3 years, when the child has acquired a sense of ownership over their own body. Even in many cities, and especially in rural areas of Iran, children between the ages of 7 and 12 are still circumcised, which results in the painful memory remaining in the child’s mind forever.

Kaveh Shirzad, who is now 39 years old, was circumcised when he was 5 years old in Islamshahr. He recalls, “One day my father took me in the car and brought me back with a white skirt. I didn’t know what had happened and I don’t remember anything from the time of the operation, maybe they had put me to sleep; I was just surprised that I was wearing a white skirt. Some people came to visit me and a few of the guests gave me gifts. Because of the white skirt, I was embarrassed to go outside and play with the other kids. The local children made fun of me and the wound that occasionally rubbed against the skirt caused intense pain, I could feel it on my genitals; this pain didn’t let me play comfortably. I remember feeling very unjustly treated and I am still angry about what was done to me; something that cannot be undone.”

Mohsen (pseudonym), who is now 36 years old and from Tehran, talks about his memory of being circumcised: “In 1989, I was in second grade when I found out I was going to be circumcised. I used to run away in the streets and alleys, even my friends and neighborhood kids chased me with my father and uncle. Eventually, I was caught and a dark-skinned man – who they called Luti – with a razor and a half-cut reed that was connected with a rope, cut my genital skin. I screamed in pain, but when I cried, Luti’s eyes would shine and he would say if you cry and scream, I will cut off your whole genital. I was forced to be quiet out of fear. What was worse was that those same neighborhood kids who used to chase me would make fun of me and tease me for years – even when we went to high school – and they would make fun

“این تصویر یک پاییز زیبا در کوهستان است”

“This image is a beautiful autumn in the mountains.”Ahmad Moghimi (fourth person from the left) with his family during childhood – Photo of the peace line.

Ahmad Moghimi, who is around 60 years old and used to live in the railroad station of Esfarayen during circumcision, now resides in the outskirts of Paris. He describes his memory of circumcision as follows: “I was four and a half years old and didn’t understand much, but my brother Akbar, who was seven years old, knew what was going on. That day, our father took me and my brother inside the house. They undressed me and laid me on a mattress, while my brother Akbar was laid on another mattress. There were a few people sitting around us. On one hand, I was overwhelmed with joy because they were giving me water and coins, and on the other hand, a few people were bombarding me with questions, and I couldn’t understand anything. Until they started cutting with a knife-like blade and I started crying from the pain. My crying intensified when the man lit a small piece of cloth on fire and placed the

Masoud (pseudonym), who is now 25 years old and lives in Sari, says: “When I was 7 years old, they took me to the doctor’s office. I was very scared and kept screaming, wondering why my mother wasn’t helping me. There were two men and a woman above me, but I didn’t know which one was the doctor and which one was the nurse. In the end, they calmed me down with a few injections and then performed the circumcision, which I think took about an hour. I had severe pain for several hours after the surgery and I remember staying awake until late at night when my father had to take me to the bathroom to remove the bandages that had stuck to my genitals and dried. For a few days, I didn’t talk to anyone, my skirt was pulled up, and almost everyone in the neighborhood knew that I had been circumcised, which made me a target of ridicule when I went to my

“Mohammad Reza, 28 years old from Mashhad, says: “I was in fourth grade when I was circumcised. At the time, I didn’t know what circumcision was until I saw one of my friends, who was from the same neighborhood as me, walking with a skirt on. I went to him and asked why he was wearing a skirt. My friend didn’t answer and I went home and asked my mother. My mother said he was circumcised. That night, there was a fight between my parents because my father was against circumcision and this argument continued for a few days. Eventually, my father gave in and took me and my brother to the best private hospital in Mashhad and we were circumcised. At the hospital, they did the circumcision under anesthesia, but my pain didn’t start until two days later. It was summer and the pain was unbearable. After two or three days, I touched the bandages so much that they came off

This text does not provide any Farsi text to translate. Please provide the Farsi text to be translated.
Mehdi Nowzar (first person from the right) with two other boys during the post-circumcision period – photo of the peace line.

Mehdi Nozdar, who is now 39 years old and lives in Los Angeles, was circumcised at the age of 7 in Tehran. He describes, “There was also a female nurse among the medical staff and this made me very embarrassed. After the circumcision, friends and family who came to visit me expected me to lift up my skirt and show them the site of the operation so they could examine it carefully. This shame was even harder for me than the pain and suffering of circumcision.”

Ahmad Lotfi is 29 years old and lives in the city of Zug, Switzerland. He recounts his memory of circumcision as follows: “I was probably 4 years old and living in Robat Karim when my father took me and my brother, who was 2 years older than me, to the hospital for circumcision. I had heard things about the procedure and knew how painful it was, so I ran away and hid under the bushes in the hospital courtyard for a few hours. When they left the hospital, I went to them and saw that my brother was wearing a white dress and he described the procedure to me, and my father said that I was supposed to be circumcised today, but I stayed for another day and said I won’t let you circumcise me! A year later, when I was five, my father told the children that he and my mother were going to my aunt’s house and asked who wants to come with us? We all jumped up

“بهار، زمانی برای شروع مجدد است”

“Spring, a time for new beginnings”
Siyavash Shahabi

Siyavash Shahabi, 32 years old, who currently lives in Ankara, describes his circumcision experience as follows: “It feels like it was just yesterday. They didn’t tell me anything about it before the procedure. I woke up like any other morning, had breakfast, and went to play in the alley. Slowly, the presence of my relatives in our house caught my attention. I thought it was just a regular gathering. Even the presence of the children from the family didn’t register with me that we were having a special event. Around noon, they called us for lunch. We raced back home to eat. I remember my mother holding something like a skirt and telling me to put it on. I asked why, until one of the children from the family said they were going to circumcise me. I just remember running away from home. My older brother and the children from the family followed me, trying to catch me. However, they eventually caught me in the

From all of these problems and pains that were mentioned, if we overlook them, parents, when deciding to circumcise their sons, deprive them of the right to make decisions about their cultural and religious identity, and in fact, by imposing their religious beliefs on children, they cause them pain, suffering, psychological damage, and physical harm. Isn’t it better for boys to make decisions about their bodies after the age of 18?

At the end of Dr. Christopher Cold’s research, the head of the Department of Anatomical Pathology in Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA, the following conclusion was reached regarding the foreskin: “The foreskin is an important part of the body that protects against contamination, friction, dryness, and injury throughout life. It is a complete, proper, and natural part of the male reproductive organ, not an extra part. On average, the adult male foreskin is about 30 square centimeters [I estimate that in some circumcised men it may be less than 2.5 square centimeters] and is made up of a double-layered skin similar to a sleeve. The foreskin enhances sexual pleasure and detailed studies have shown that this area is made up of several specialized nerves that are important for normal sexual function and encompass a wide range of sexual sensations.”