This archive preserves content written and curated by the late medical historian Robert Darby, previously housed on his personal websites. Upon his passing, Darby provided The Darbon Institute with his collection of valuable circumcision resources. We are grateful he has entrusted us with ensuring this archive's posterity, and we are sure that Darby's legacy will likewise be preserved for many years to come. Learn more about Robert Darby.
Disclaimer: 1) While the contents of this archive are preserved by The Darbon Institute, they do not necessarily reflect the organisation's views. 2) While we have migrated content to this site, the work of updating thousands of links within it continues, so please bear with us.
Australia
- Overview
- A source of mischief (Part 1)
- A source of mischief (Part 2)
- A source of mischief (Part 3)
- Edwardian baby care (1903–1907)
- Cavalier among the roundheads (1940s–1950s)
- Why circumcise? (1952)
- The enigma of circumcision (1970)
- Pamela Bone: Why doctor's are cutting down on circumcision (1996)
- Australia's new witchdoctors
- Brian Morris reviewed (1999)
- Aussie boy's circumcision nightmare (2000)
- Abduction and forced circumcision of Queensland boys (2002)
- Family Court case of K & H: Legality of circumcision may require consent of both parents (2003)
- Dr Karl on the origins of circumcision (2003/4)
- William Chidley and the BMA (2004)
- Medical authorities maintain opposition to circumcision (2007–2009)
- Circumcision and sand revisited: a skeptical reply to Brian Morris (2008)
- Paul Mason and Germaine Greer on the rights of children (2008)
- Australian study finds insignificant benefits of circumcision (2010)
- Child health journal calls circumcision "bizarre mutilation" (2010)
- Female genital mutilation in Australia (2010)
- ANZ public health journal: No case for circumcision to combat HIV transmission in Australia (2011)
- Circumcision rate continues its slow decline (2011)
- Men's health study doesn't mention circumcision (2011)
- The Conversation: circumcision unethical and harmful (2011)
- Child health experts slam circumcision proposal (2012)
- RACP's policy on female genital mutilation (2012)
- Tasmanian law report recommends regulation of circumcision (2012)
- Canberra circumcision doctor disciplined (2013)
- Gaol sentence increased for FGM doctor (2013)
- Incidence and prevalence of circumcision in Australia (2013)
- New South Wales doctor guilty of genital mutilation (2013)
- Circumcision "not worth it" for Aussie boys (2015)
- Medicare should not cover non-therapeutic circumcision (2015)
- Changes to Medicare coverage, female circumcision now covered (2016)
- Circumcision in the news in Australia
- Health of Aussie boys and men improves as incidence of circumcision declines
- Lack of progress on Medicare reform criticised
- Medicare should not pay for medically unnecessary circumcision
- New RACP policy welcomed by child protection advocates
- Professor Brian Morris: relentless circumcision activist
Britain / United Kingdom
- Overview
- The crotchets of Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (1855)
- The reflex action of the foreskin (1857)
- Masturbation and circumcision (1860)
- Clitoridectomy and medical ethics (1867)
- Hutchinson on circumcision (1890)
- The barbarity of circumcision (1890)
- For and against circumcision (1935)
- George Drysdale: Unsung prophet of safe sex
- British Medical Journal editorials (1949 and 1979)
- Sir Daniel Whiddon (1953)
- British men seek compensation for circumcision injury (2005)
- British Medical Journal debates ethics of non-therapeutic circumcision (2007)
- The Guardian: Time to ban circumcision? (2011)
- The myth of the British Royal Family's "circumcision tradition" (2013)
- British judge calls circumcision "significant harm" (2015)
- British court: circumcision should be left until children old enough to decide for themselves (2016)
Canada
- Report and critique of Canadian proposal to routinely circumcise boys at age 11 (2011)
- National Post: Circumcision mutilation or an act of love? (2011)
- Canada Supreme Court: circumcision "aggravated assault" and child abuse (2012)
- Canadian Pediatric Society: recommends against circumcision (2015)
- Canadian Urological Association: routine circumcision "not justified" (2018)
United States of America
- Overview
- A short history of circumcision in the United States: Part 1
- A short history of circumcision in the United States: Part 2
- Orificial surgery
- Dr Sayre's cure for paralysis (1870)
- Solving the "Negro rape problem" (1880s)
- Dr Kellogg's prescription (1888)
- Treating masturbation (1895)
- Miracle cures (1898)
- Preputial irritation (1898)
- A Century of Circumcision in the USA (1900s)
- Sceptics and dissenters (1900s)
- Dr Remondino blasts anti-circumcision activists (1902)
- Rapid circumcision of male and female (1910)
- The Gomco clamp (1935)
- Should he be circumcised? (1941)
- Dr Fishbein's fantasies (1960s)
- A New York mother questions the doctors (1975)
- American doctors today (2000s)
- An American obsession (2005)
- The sorcerer's apprentice (2005)
- John Taylor on the importance of the ridged band (2007)
- Boldt v Boldt: American legal precedent confirms child's right to reject circumcision (2009)
- Boldt case: Letter to the Journal of Clinical Ethics (2010)
- Mayhem in tattoo charge case (2010)
- Another U.S. state drops circumcision from its medical benefits schedule (2011)
- JAMA censors circumcision critics (2011)
- Recent articles in the American press (2011)
- US law on FGM reflects cultural prejudice, not physical or ethical realities (2012)
- Child health experts ridicule American circumcision policy statement (2013)
- Sharp decline in circumcision rates in western US states (2013)
- Young American scholars turn critical eye on circumcision (2013)
- CDC and male circumcision: Americans out of touch and living in the past (2014)
- Circumcision literature full of gaps, lacks rigour and relevance (2014)
- Libertarian rejects circumcision (2015)
- Critique of the AAP circumcision policy raises larger question (2016)
- US law against FGM ruled to be unconstitutional (2018)
Female genital cutting
- Overview
- Book reviews
- FGM and the United Nations
- Islamic extremism
- Abolishing the clitoris (1892)
- Circumcision of girls (c.1900)
- Girls as well as boys: Texas (1918)
- Female circumcision in the 1950s
- Female genital mutilation in Australia (2010)
- RACP's policy on female genital mutilation (2012)
- US law on FGM reflects cultural prejudice, not physical or ethical realities (2012)
- New South Wales doctor guilty of genital mutilation (2013)
- Gaol sentence increased for FGM doctor (2013)
- Changes to Medicare coverage, female circumcision now covered (2016)
- US law against FGM ruled to be unconstitutional (2018)
Guide for parents
- Detailed guide for parents
- Father of three boys offers sound advice on foreskin care and management
- Non-surgical treatment of foreskin problems
- RACP releases circumcision guide for parents
- Why some mothers want to circumcise (2003)
- Circumcision and penis care: guide for parents (2011)
- Circumcision myths you may believe (2011)
- Advice on foreskin care from French doctor (2013)
Health and disease
- Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans (BXO)
- Cancer of the penis and prostate
- Cancer of the prostate and the foreskin
- Cancer of the cervix and circumcision
- Cervical cancer, HPV and circumcision
- Circumcision effect on STIs and cancer
- Circumcision to reduce cervical cancer risk illegal
- Circumcision push by WHO/US/Gates questioned by African doctors
- Foreskin: 95% of boys never have a problem
- Foreskin: new technologies offer restoration hope to circumcised men
- Foreskin: not a risk factor for penile cancer
- HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS: circumcision irrelevant, unscientific and unethical
- HIV/AIDS: condoms more effective and circumcision reduces condom use
- HIV/AIDS: Germany's GEO publishes hard-hitting critique of Zambia's circumcision campaign
- HIV/AIDS: global health journal questions African circumcision campaign
- HIV/AIDS: growing doubts about circumcision
- HIV/AIDS: randomised control trials and the real world
- HIV/AIDS: the case against circumcision
- HIV/AIDS: the case against circumcision in Australia
- HIV/AIDS: vaccine shows promise and more ethical than circumcision
- HIV rates decline despite falling circumcision prevalence
- HIV rates soar in circumcised populations
- Neonatal circumcision unnecessary and unethical
- Phimosis and paraphimosis
- Phimosis and paraphimosis: medical history
- Phimosis: Doctors warn against misdiagnosis
- Phimosis: treatment
- Sexually transmissible infections
- Sexually transmissible infections: circumcised men at greater risk
- Urethritis: circumcision increases the risk
- Urinary tract infections
- Urinary tract infections: circumcision rarely needed
- Vaccination: False equivalence with circumcision
Injury and harm
- Deaths and complications: in Australia
- Deaths and complications: in Canada
- Deaths and complications: in the UK
- Deaths and complications: in the USA
- Psychological harms of circumcision: accounts from the USA
- Sexual violence against males
- Sexual satisfaction cut by circumcision
- Subjectivity of circumcision harms
- British men seek compensation for circumcision injury (2005)
- Physical harms of circumcision: paper by Dr John Warren (2010)
- Circumcision always painful for babies (2013)
- Higher incidence of urethral damage in circumcised boys (2016)
Medical authorities' statements
- American Academy of Pediatrics: admits 2012 circumcision policy dictated by cultural and political concerns (2016)
- British Association of Paediatric Urologists: foreskin care and management (2006)
- Canadian Pediatric Society: recommends against circumcision (2015)
- Canadian Urological Association: routine circumcision "not justified" (2018)
- Dutch Medical Association: condemns non-therapeutic circumcision (2010)
- RACP's policy on female genital mutilation (2012)
- Previous statements by Australian medical authorities (1971–2004)
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians: submissions before its 2002 policy
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians: review of 2002 policy (2002)
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians: circumcision not recommended (2010)
- South African Medical Association: circumcision of infants "unethical and illegal" (2011)
Medical ethics, human rights and the law
- International human rights treaties
- Medicare should not pay for medically unnecessary circumcision
- Significant articles on medical ethics, human rights and the law
- The circumcision decision: a legal or a human rights question
- The "public health" case for circumcision
- Sami Aldeeb: Circumcision and human rights (2001)
- Sami Aldeeb: Male and female circumcision (2001)
- Abduction and forced circumcision of Queensland boys (2002)
- Family Court case of K & H: Legality of circumcision may require consent of both parents (2003)
- Man tells of forced circumcision in Syria (2004)
- South Africa passes law to restrict circumcision (2005)
- British Medical Journal debates ethics of non-therapeutic circumcision (2007)
- Frankfurt court finds circumcision an unlawful personal injury (2007)
- Paul Mason and Germaine Greer on the rights of children (2008)
- Boldt v Boldt: American legal precedent confirms child's right to reject circumcision (2009)
- Boldt case: Letter to the Journal of Clinical Ethics (2010)
- American female circumcision boo-boo ignites calls for equal treatment (2010)
- Circumcision in boys and girls: Why the double standard? (2011)
- Genital integrity conference a "smashing success" (2011)
- South African medical journal condemns circumcision push as medical colonialism (2011)
- Canada Supreme Court: circumcision "aggravated assault" and child abuse (2012)
- German court rules non-therapeutic circumcision unlawful (2012)
- German-Turkish MP defends Cologne circumcision judgement (2012)
- Helsinki conference on the right to genital autonomy (2012)
- Tasmanian law report recommends regulation of circumcision (2012)
- Circumcision and the law: news from Australia and around the world (2012/13)
- Charleston debate shows weakness of case for circumcision (2013)
- Circumcision under the spotlight in medical ethics journal (2013)
- Circumcision violates the child's right to an open future (2013)
- Jewish voices against circumcision getting stronger (2014)
- British judge calls circumcision "significant harm" (2015)
- British court: circumcision should be left until children old enough to decide for themselves (2016)
- In defence of children's right to bodily integrity (2016)
- As human rights advance circumcision advocates have nowhere left to hide (2018)
Ritual/religious
- Overview
- Christian attitudes to circumcision
- Circumcision and infectious diseases revisited
- Muslim circumcision practices
- Ritual circumcision in South Africa
- The riddle of the sands
- Three persistent myths about the foreskin
- The mysterious Abyssinians (1768-1773)
- AIDS and society in Tanzania (2000s)
- Origins of ritual circumcision (2002)
- AIDS now a threat in Middle East (2005)
- Review: Marked in your flesh (2006)
- Iranian human rights activist criticises circumcision (2010)
- Jewish voices against circumcision getting stronger (2014)
- Cultural/religious/ritual circumcision not related to hygienic or other practical considerations (2018)
Other
- About Robert Darby
- Chronology of circumcision
- Circumcision and "moral hygiene"
- Classification of male and female genital mutilation
- Does circumcision have a history?
- Male circumcision is a feminist issue
- Circumcised as an adult: One man's account
- Personal stories from circumcised men
- The case of circumcision promoters is unconvincing
- Quotes
Do you like this page?