Photo Gallery Is Circumcising Young Boys Unethical?
In this photo, a young boy is shown during a circumcision ceremony in Instanbul, Turkey.
Muslim, Jewish and Christian boys around the world are circumcised according to their religious traditions. This Filipino boy was circumcised in a mass ceremony.
A fierce debate over circumcision has been raging in Germany for weeks and has caught Chancellor Merkel's government off guard. Berlin is now hoping to introduce a law regulating the practice, but it is a delicate issue due to the religious passions involved. It could take years before it is resolved. Here, a boy holds his fathers hands during a circumcision near Kuala Lampur.
In 2007, the World Health Organization recommended circumcision as a prophylactic measure against HIV infection. This recommendation was based on studies from Kenya and Uganda that suggested that the risk of infection with HIV was 50 percent lower in circumcised heterosexual men than in non-circumcised ones. Here, a doctor in Zimbabwe performs the procedure.
Here, a Rabbi and a father pray during a bris in Budapest.
Members of the medical community argue that there is no health advantage to circumcising boys, and say they should be allowed to choose the procedure themselves when older.
