I want to express my sincere thanks to GALDEF and to its donors for the $5,000 grant that helped to fund the cost of the expert reports and retrieving the deposition transcripts in my legal case against the physician and hospital involved in my genital cutting (aka “circumcision”) when I was born in 2000. I would not have been able to do this without GALDEF’s support and the generosity of its donors who contributed to the GoFundMe campaign (Support Legal Justice for Circumcision Sufferers).

I’m writing this anonymously since my legal case is ongoing and it could possibly jeopardize my case if I were to go completely public at this time.

My lawsuit challenges the legality of the widespread, non-consensual, non-therapeutic, socioculturally-driven genital tampering ritual that is imposed on infants assigned male at birth. The key question in my lawsuit is this: What is the standard of third-party consent as it applies to an invasive and gratuitous intervention which is carried out in the absence of demonstrable medical necessity? The causes of action (claims) in my proceeding are negligence, battery, breach of fiduciary duty, and constructive fraud. The core theme of my case is bodily autonomy. Through my lawsuit, I aim to stand up not only for my rights, but also to advocate for the protection of everyone’s rights to security of the person, bodily integrity, and bodily autonomy. Everyone deserves to be free from the risk of forced non-therapeutic genital cutting, regardless of age, sex, gender, race or religion.

I initiated my case in March 2021. During the intervening years of this legal battle, the GALDEF team has been one of only a small group of individuals that has actually done anything of a practical nature to help my case, beyond merely sharing supportive words. Don’t get me wrong, soft support is appreciated, but it doesn’t go a long way in helping us to push the envelope about this problem. GALDEF’s willingness to provide tangible and reliable support is a distinguishing feature that is very much needed by male genital cutting (MGC) sufferers like myself who launch proceedings concerning this violation of bodily autonomy.

The experience of fighting my case has given me a lot of insight into the barriers that stand between our efforts for justice and the change that we strive to achieve. As plaintiffs, many MGC sufferers wishing to sue are of a sufficient age to be able to fund their own litigation but whose age places them beyond the statute of limitations (SOL) window when they can legally sue (generally two years from either reaching age 18 or two years from the date of discovery of harm), or they’re still young enough to be within their SOL window but too young to afford costly litigation without parental or other support.

Another barrier is the scarcity of courageous attorneys willing to undertake unconventional, groundbreaking cases, typically referred to as impact litigation. There are several reasons for this. Most lawyers don’t understand the harms and the medical, ethical and legal complexities of non-therapeutic infant MGC. For some, this issue falls outside of their legal niche. Others view this from a business perspective as being too risky or not as profitable as other prospects. And for others it’s a combination of all these factors.

On top of that, it feels like the legal system is constructed in a way to extract money from people at every step rather than to serve people in the interest of justice. It’s an extremely intimidating and discouraging venture, to say the least, especially when facing it alone as a young person with neither a lawyer, parental support, nor financial means.

There is an inherent power disparity between adults and the children who are subjected to genital tampering. Most often those affected are newborns who are at the most vulnerable point in their lives. The nonconsensual genital cutting deprives children and the adults whom they become of an open future and the freedom of self-determination regarding such a private and vital part of their body.

Additionally, there exists an even greater power asymmetry between medical professionals and trade associations over the young people and the adults who become aware of their harm and who seek to challenge the status quo. The medical and legal systems behave in such a way that MGC sufferers are de facto not even supposed to be able to bring forward a case. Doctors and hospitals have easy access to teams of attorneys while they are shielded many times over by their liability insurers, by their medical protective associations, and by laws designed to maintain the status quo,

In such a word as this, GALDEF challenges that imbalance, offering hope, and increasing the odds for victory in cases like mine.

On a very personal level, I have to say that this lawsuit has been an extremely isolating, stressful, and disillusioning experience so far, yet GALDEF’s moral and financial support has made it possible for me to fight this case and stay in one piece. This support is especially critical given that I do not have the support of my parents in this endeavour. Even though my legal battle sometimes feels futile, it desperately needs to be fought. The injustice of infant MGC needs to face its day in court. For better or worse, my personal situation and my legal case provide a vehicle for this to happen. I figure that I can’t wait around for someone else to initiate that fight for me and for other MGC sufferers to step forward. Hopefully, my actions will inspire others to do so.

I’m aware that my lawsuit presents a unique opportunity to legally challenge the problem of MGC because I became aware of the injury early enough and I initiated the lawsuit before my statute of limitations period expired. I’m grateful that my personality and character traits of tenacity, perseverance, and gumption are enabling me to push this case as far as possible.

When I was an infant I couldn’t defend myself or advocate for my rights, but as an adult I can speak up about this injustice now. I won’t tolerate what was done to me or what continues to be done by physicians to millions of infants each year in America and around the world. Regardless of the outcome of my case, I will have gained more personal dignity by having fought this fight than had I just remained silent and let the doctor and hospital trample my basic rights. My hope is that my advocacy will benefit and inspire other Children at Risk of Genital Cutting and Those Affected by Cutting (the CARTAC community).

There is hope for the future. I fully expect that more people affected by MGC will mount legal challenges against this injustice and the system of power that permits, tolerates and promotes it. Eventually the voices of potential litigants, professionals, and members of the public who strive for change will become so numerous that they can no longer be ignored and the system will have no choice but to acknowledge its wrongdoing by relegating this archaic practice to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

In the meantime, GALDEF continues to raise funds to create a “war chest” to assist with more cases like mine. I encourage you to give as generously and as often as you can to GALDEF to help them fund more such legal challenges.