Draft prosecution guidance on harmful practices has classified non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC) as a potential form of child abuse.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance states circumcision can be a “painful and harmful practice” and “may be a form of child abuse or an offence against the person”.
The National Secular Society campaigns to protect all children from medically unnecessary genital cutting.
It has repeatedly called on the Government to protect boys from NTMC until they are old enough to decide for themselves, based on their own values.
The CPS said it has “recently prosecuted cases where significant harm and distress has been caused to victims”, referring to the jailings of Mohammad Siddiqui and Mohammed Alazawi for circumcision related crimes against boys last year.
Unanaesthetised circumcision was “gratuitous infliction of pain”
In January 2025, Mohammad Siddiqui was jailed for child cruelty, amongst other crimes, after performing an unanaesthetised circumcision on an infant. Pre-existing CPS guidance includes child cruelty as a form of child abuse.
In court, the CPS’s KC described the unanaesthetised circumcision as “gratuitous infliction of pain” and a “deliberate disregard for the welfare of the child”.
Despite this, religious groups in the UK, including registered charities, openly perform unanaesthetised circumcisions.
A mother calling into LBC radio last week described a rabbi performing an unanaesthetised circumcision on her son on the kitchen counter. She said her son screamed so hard she “thought he was going to die”.
There is no legal requirement for circumcisers to be medically trained or even to have “proven expertise”.
The judge in the Siddiqui case, Noel Lucas KC, said “safeguards and protections must now be put in place and put in place as a matter of urgency, to ensure that babies and young children are protected”.
Alazawi was jailed for nine years in July for crimes including wounding with intent. One child was left ‘screaming in agony’ during an unanaesthetised circumcision.
Religious groups accept potential harms of NTMC
Responding to the draft CPS guidance, consultant urologist Gordon Muir said NTMC is “a form child abuse and the correct thing to do would be to wait until the child is 16 or more and is able to make a rational decision about it”.
Jonathan Arkush, co-chair of pro-circumcision group Milah UK, accepted circumcision could constitute abuse if ‘performed incorrectly’.
The Muslim Council of Britain said the lack of regulation was leading to “unacceptable risks” and “addressing those risks to protect young boys should be an urgent priority”.
Coroner calls for Government action to protect boys
The guidance comes in the wake of a coroner calling on the Department of Health and Social Care to take action to prevent future deaths of boys caused by NTMC.
His call comes following the death of Mohamed Abdisamad February 2023 from an “Invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infection following male circumcision”.
The coroner’s report noted the complete lack of regulation of NTMC and states: “In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action.”
There have been at least 7 deaths linked to circumcision of children since 2001, according to the Office for National Statistics. This data was published in response to an NSS FOI request.
NSS: ‘Relying on the criminal justice system only deals with harm after it has happened’
National Secular Society human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: “We appreciate that parents who circumcise their sons do so with the best of intentions.
“However, the fact remains that this is a medically unnecessary surgery that inscribes the cultural or religious views of parents on the genitals of a non-consenting child. It deprives that child of a healthy erogenous tissue, and violates their independent right to bodily autonomy and freedom of religion or belief.
“We welcome the introduction of prosecution guidelines aimed at tackling the most harmful circumcision practices. But relying on the criminal justice system only deals with harm after it has happened. The priority now must be to prevent that harm from occurring in the first place.
“Circumcision, as a surgery, is inherently dangerous. It should only be performed by doctors and, when it comes to children, only with medical necessity. This is entirely of a piece with standard medical ethics and child safeguarding principles.
“Decisions about circumcision should therefore be deferred until the individual is old enough to decide for himself, based on his own values. Until such a time, the Government and the medical establishment must act to protect boys from medically unnecessary circumcision.”