She argues further that the literacy of women in practising countries is generally poorer than in developed nations, which reduces their ability to make informed choices. Intersex children, male circumcision
Several commentators maintain that childrens rights are violated not only by FGM, but also by the genital alteration of intersex children, who are born with anomalies that physicians choose to correct. Arguments have been made that non-therapeutic circumcision of boys, also violates childrens rights. Religious male circumcision is practised by Muslims, Jews, and some Christian groups. Globally, about 30 percent of males over 15 are circumcised; of these, about two-thirds are Muslim. At least half the male population of the United States is circumcised, while most men in Europe are not. The positions of the worlds major medical organizations range from the view that elective circumcision of male babies and children carries significant risks and offers no medical benefits, to a belief that the procedure has a modest health benefit that outweighs small risks. See also
No FGM Australia

Sources
Notes
References
Works cited
Books and book chapters

Journal articles

United Nations reports

Further reading
"Circumcision, female", The Kinsey Institute (bibliography 1960s–1980s). FGM archive, The Guardian. Haworth, Abigail (18 November 2012). "The day I saw 248 girls suffering genital mutilation", The Observer. Lightfoot-Klein, Hanny (1989). Prisoners of Ritual: An Odyssey Into Female Genital Circumcision in Africa. New York: Routledge. Westley, David M. (1999). "Female circumcision and infibulation in Africa", Electronic Journal of Africana Bibliography, 4 (bibliography up to 1997).Personal stories

El Saadawi, Nawal (1975). Woman at Point Zero. London: Zed Books. Dirie, Waris and Miller, Cathleen (1998).
Against this, the medical anthropologist Carla Obermeyer argued in 1999 that FGM may be conducive to a subjects social well-being in the same way that rhinoplasty and male circumcision are. Despite the 2007 ban in Egypt, Egyptian women wanting FGM for their daughters seek amalyet tajmeel (cosmetic surgery) to remove what they see as excess genital tissue. Cosmetic procedures such as labiaplasty and clitoral hood reduction do fall within the WHOs definition of FGM, which aims to avoid loopholes, but the WHO notes that these elective practices are generally not regarded as FGM. Some legislation banning FGM, such as in Canada and the US, covers minors only, but several countries, including Sweden and the UK, have banned it regardless of consent. Sweden, for example, has banned operations "on the outer female sexual organs with a view to mutilating them or bringing about some other permanent change in them, regardless of whether or not consent has been given for the operation". Gynaecologist Birgitta Essén and anthropologist Sara Johnsdotter argue that the law seems to distinguish between Western and African genitals, and deems only African women (such as those seeking reinfibulation after childbirth) unfit to make their own decisions.The philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that a key concern with FGM is that it is mostly conducted on children using physical force. The distinction between social pressure and physical force is morally and legally salient, comparable to the distinction between seduction and rape.