Authorities report that at least 41 young men have died from circumcision procedures during traditional initiation activities in South Africa in November and December

At least 41 young men have died as a result of circumcision procedures as part of traditional initiation activities in South Africa in November and December, authorities said Tuesday.

South Africa’s Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa told local broadcasters Tuesday that 41 initiates died during this year’s summer initiation. He blamed negligence on the part of both the initiation schools, including registered ones, and parents for not adhering to safety standards and medical advice.

Hlabisa said some of the unproven advice often given to the young men is to avoid drinking water in order to heal faster.

  • AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    742·
    6 days ago

    Welcome to 2026! What’s that? No, no…unfortunately genital mutilation for completely arbitrary cultural or superstitious reasons is still a thing. Sorry.

    • Boppel@feddit.orgEnglish
      191·
      6 days ago

      yes, but you have to understand this, because religious or cultural feelings are more important, than protection and being unharmed for some reason

      • lepinkainen@lemmy.worldEnglish
        10·
        6 days ago

        This is the one thing where “the jews” is the correct answer.

        Cutting of baby boy dicks is so deeply ingrained in Jewish culture that they just can’t stop, and if someone tries to they can throw the antisemitism card down and conversation over.

        Even in countries with no notable Jewish or Muslim population (Nordics) it’s impossible to ban for some fucking reason. Finland can even prevent girls from being taken abroad if there’s suspicion they will get mutilated. Boys tho? Go ahead, cut/bite away, it’s fine - baby boys can’t feel pain!

        You don’t even have to stop it, just do it to adults. 18yo men can decide for themselves if they want to cut off a piece of their genitalia.

        • phutatorius@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          Circumcision is also practiced by a large variety of non-Jewish, non-Muslim societies, especially in Africa and parts of Austronesia. And many forms of it in those cultures are far more dangerous and damaging than just snipping off a bit of foreskin: in particuar, subincision.

          The same goes even more for female genital mutilation, which is practiced in some Muslim countries, despite most sects of Islam forbidding the practice. And again, it’s also practiced in a large number of non-Muslim cultures in the region too (where it probably originated).

          • lepinkainen@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            3 days ago

            Yea, in Africa it’s kinda weird since it’s cultural, but not religious.

            None of these populations count for shit though when western countries try to ban genital mutilation

    • Mihies@programming.devEnglish
      13·
      6 days ago

      Hey, how else would one be able to repel demonesses or increase attractiveness to women?

      The purpose of circumcision has been variously proposed that it began:

      as a religious sacrifice;
as a rite of passage marking a boy's entrance into adulthood;
as a form of sympathetic magic to ensure virility or fertility;
as an aid to hygiene where regular bathing was impractical;
as a means of marking those of higher social status;
as a means of humiliating enemies and slaves by symbolic castration;
as a means of differentiating a circumcising group from their non-circumcising neighbors;
as a means of discouraging masturbation or other socially proscribed sexual behaviors;
as a means of increasing a man's attractiveness to women;
as a demonstration of one's ability to endure pain;
as a male counterpart to menstruation or the breaking of the hymen;
to copy the rare natural occurrence of a missing foreskin of an important leader;[13][14]
as a way to repel demonesses;[15] and/or
as a display of disgust of the smegma produced by the foreskin.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_circumcision

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zipEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        The argument that it’s a form of hygiene is a bullshit social-Darwinist retcon. Ritual purity has little to nothing to do with actual cleanliness.

        It’s about tribal identity and a painful, humiliating initiation rite, just like many others practiced throughout the world.

        And it’s utterly ineffective at repelling demonesses, unlike my penis-sheath gourd.

      • AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        6 days ago

        I’m so confused!

        Have I been marked out as having higher social status and virility, or have I been symbolically castrated like a slave or enemy???

      • AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        6 days ago

        OH, did we abolish the practice immediately after by enacting laws against it?

        I must have missed that.