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

Please view the extensive Online Media Kit at:

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

Embargo until Thursday, March 29th

‘Genital Integrity Awareness Week’ Launches in Washington, DC

The National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC) launches Genital Integrity Awareness Week, April 1st - 7th   (April is Child Abuse Prevention Month), in Washington, DC, with the Genital Integrity: A New Awareness conference. Twenty-five presenters, including doctors, nurses, lawyers, professors and activists will discuss the short-term and long-term effects of genital mutilation on children, its effect on 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) join in the week of activities with marches, demonstrations, and an education fair.

"We are focussing on the rights of every child to an intact body," NOCIRC director, Marilyn Milos says, "We are attempting to secure the child's inalienable rights as set forth in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Every child has the right to life, liberty, and security of person, and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. If we were cutting off other normal body parts of non-consenting minors, we would be defending their right to that body part, too. The real question is: Why is it that the sex organs are being cut off?"

NOCIRC’s goals for this week-long event are:

Speaking about the goals of Genital Integrity Awareness Week, Milos added, "By gathering our collective wisdom we are formulating strategies for reaching out to the families and communities who mistakenly believe that there are benefits to circumcision." Currently, 43% of parents choose to not circumcise their baby boys.

SIC Society will lead the children’s rights advocates, who call themselves Intactivists, down the center of Constitution Avenue from the White House for two marches. The first march will end at the Capitol Building to focus on Genital Integrity. The second to the steps of the Supreme Court to ask for children’s genital protection. A Federal law protecting girls from genital harm was passed in 1996. The Intactivists are asking for equal protection for boys and intersexed children. Local Intactivists will also be demonstrating concurrently in front of the Statehouses of California, Texas, Maine, Iowa and Florida.

NOCIRC has more than 80 regional centers throughout the United States, and more than 20 throughout the world. It sponsors the biennial International Symposia on Genital Integrity. The sixth symposium was held at the University of Sydney, Australia, 2000. NOCIRC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Roster status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

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

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

David Wilson, SIC Society Founder, sicsociety@aol.com 407-793-2515

Dan Bollinger, GIAW Media Coordinator