National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers

P.O. Box 2512, San Anselmo, California 94979 www.nocirc.org Tel: 415-488-9883 Fax: 415-488-9660

FOR RELEASE, March 20^th, 2001
A MEDIA REMINDER & UPDATE

"Genital Integrity Awareness Week" Launches in DC

If you haven’t assigned a reporter to cover it yet, now is the time to do so.

Location Change:  The Marches will gather at the Ellipse, not Lafayette Park as previously announced. 
Both marches will be down the center of Constitution Avenue to 1^st Capitol Avenue.

Please view the extensive GIAW Online Media Kit at:

http://www.themenscenter.com/intact/GIAWmedia.htm

Interview speakers and "Intactivists": To arrange interviews, obtain last-minute scheduling changes and media kits, or to provide information to a specific person in your organization for this or a future event, contact Dan Bollinger. An international press release will be issued immediately prior to and announcing the Genital Integrity Awareness Week.

The National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC) will launch Genital Integrity Awareness Week, April 1 - 7 (April is Child Abuse Prevention Month), in Washington, DC, with a conference, Genital Integrity: A New Awareness. Twenty-five presenters including doctors, nurses, lawyers, professors and activists will discuss the short- and long-term effects of male and female genital mutilation on children and our society, and the importance of protecting the right of infants and children to intact sex organs. The International Coalition for Genital Integrity (ICGI) and the Stop Infant Circumcision Society (SIC Society) will continue the week of activities with marches, demonstrations, and an education fair. The media is invited to attend these events.

Genital Integrity Awareness Week activities include:

NOCIRC Conference: Genital Integrity: A New Awareness (March 31-April 1) Tysons Corner, Holiday Inn

Stop Infant Circumcision Society March: March to the Capitol and demonstration, bringing awareness of a human rights issue to Congress and the public. (April 1) Begins at the Ellipse (10am), down the center of Constitution Ave. to 1^st Capitol Ave. and the East Steps of the Capitol Building.

ICGI Constituents March to Supreme Court: Emphasizing the unconstitutionality of the Federal law prohibiting female genital mutilation without protecting males and intersexed infants and children, ICGI constituents urge Congress to provide equal protection under the law. (April 2) Same route/time as above.

Education Fair: ICGI member organizations including NOCIRC, Doctors Opposing Circumcision, Nurses for the Rights of the Child, Attorneys for the Rights of the Child, Stop Infant Circumcision Society, and the National Organization of Restoring Men will be hosting booths all day on the East side of the Capitol. Guests may talk with representatives from each group and pick up information and resources.

ICGI Unnecessary Medicaid Spending Report: A fifty-state report, documenting unnecessary Federal tax dollar spending on non-therapeutic, amputative circumcision of non-consenting minors, will be presented to every member of Congress.

Marilyn Milos, RN, NOCIRC Founder, Director, and Conference Coordinator

nocirc@concentric.net 415-488-9883

Rio Cruz, PhD, ICGI, Founder and Co-Director, riocruz@cruzers.com 831-423-3285

Amber Craig, GIAW Organizer, amberc@attglobal.net
Dan Bollinger, GIAW Media Coordinator

Before March 30^th danbollinger@home.com 765-497-0150 (home)

March 30^th - April 2^nd bollinger@pocketmail.com 765-427-0595 (portable e-mail & cell phone)

These contacts and most of the Intactivists are staying at the Tysons Corner Holiday Inn