Editing Circumcision and law (section)

=== South Africa ===
The [[Children's Act 2005]] makes the circumcision of male children under 16 unlawful except for religious or medical reasons. In the [[Eastern Cape]] province the Application of Health Standards in Traditional Circumcision Act, 2001, regulates traditional circumcision, which causes the death or mutilation of many youths by traditional surgeons each year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 August 2007 |title=SOUTH AFRICA: Clamping down on botched circumcisions |work=IRIN In-Depth |location=MTHATA |url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73278 |url-status=live |access-date=19 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225120029/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73278 |archive-date=25 February 2008}}</ref> Among other provisions, the minimum age for circumcision is age 18.

In 2004, a 22-year-old Rastafarian convert was forcibly circumcised by a group of [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] tribal elders and relatives. When he first fled, two police returned him to those who had circumcised him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Melanie |date=4 July 2004 |title=Rastafarian circumcised against his will |url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20040704124240917C136839 |access-date=23 April 2007 |website=[[Sunday Tribune]] |page=3 |quote=22-year-old Cape Town man was taken by force and circumcised against his will this week....He is a Rastafarian convert and strongly opposes Xhosa initiation. The men who forcibly circumcised him also cut off his Rasta dreadlocks.}}</ref> In another case, a medically circumcised Xhosa man was forcibly recircumcised by his father and community leaders. He laid a charge of unfair discrimination on the grounds of his religious beliefs, seeking an apology from his father and the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa. According to South African newspapers, the subsequent trial became "a landmark case around forced circumcision".<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 August 2009 |title=Forced circumcision: Son takes parents on |url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/forced-circumcision-son-takes-parents-on-1.454711 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104070638/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/forced-circumcision-son-takes-parents-on-1.454711 |archive-date=4 January 2011 |access-date=30 September 2010 |publisher=IOL: News for South Africa and the World}}</ref> In October 2009, the [[Eastern Cape High Court, Bhisho|Eastern Cape High Court at Bhisho]] (sitting as an [[Equality Court]]) clarified that circumcision is unlawful unless done with the full consent of the initiate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 October 2009 |title=Judgment in forced circumcision case |url=http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20091014084902414 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803161432/http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20091014084902414 |archive-date=3 August 2010 |access-date=30 September 2010 |publisher=Legalbrief Today}}</ref>