About Genital Autonomy America

About GAA 2021-02-17T17:15:55+00:00

GENITAL AUTONOMY & CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

The Nuremberg trials following World War II exposed medical atrocities that led to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which contributed to our current understanding of the fundamental right of every person to bodily integrity.

Worldwide, harmful cultural practices involving circumcision, genital surgeries, and other modifications of sex characteristics routinely violate the bodily integrity and genital autonomy rights of infants and children.

In the USA, the largest affected populations, in order of incidence, are male, intersex, and female children. This is not an issue of competitive suffering; the children’s screams are genderless and deaths from genital cutting occur to male, female, and intersex children. The consequences of the pain and trauma last a lifetime.

Cultural conditioning, social expectations, religious affiliation, and parental preference do not take priority over the rights of the child.

The person who must live with the consequences of non-therapeutic genital cutting or other modifications of sex characteristics is the only person with the right to consent and that consent cannot be given until the age of majority (usually 18 years).

BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Marilyn Milos, RN


Executive Director, GA America, co-founded and has been the Executive Director of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC) since 1985. In January 2016, the name was changed to Genital Autonomy America, broadening the focus of the organization to include the bodily integrity and genital autonomy rights of all infants and children—male female, and intersex. In 1989, Marilyn co-founded the International Symposia on Circumcision, now the International Symposia on Genital Autonomy and Children’s Rights. She co-edited the proceedings of the first symposium for publication in The Truth Seeker magazine and has co-edited eight books of symposia proceedings. Marilyn has published numerous educational pamphlets and several journal articles, and since 1984 has been the editor of the NOCIRC Annual Newsletter, now the Genital Autonomy Annual Newsletter. San Anselmo, California, USA.


Kate Edmiston, AAS, CMT


Secretary/Treasurer, GA America, earned her degree in medical administration in 1998, received certification from World School of Massage and Holistic Healing Arts in 2014, and has worked with and for NOCIRC and GA America since they were founded. San Anselmo, California, USA.

 

 


Sheila Curran, RN


Co-founder and past Secretary/Treasurer, NOCIRC and GA America. Sheila and Marilyn worked on the obstetrical floor at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California, and in 1982 documented the circumcision of a newborn baby and brought circumcision out from behind closed doors with their video, Informed Consent. Old Town, Maine, USA.


James L. Snyder, MD, FACS


James is a Diplomate of the American Board of Urology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Past President of the Virginia Urological Society, Retired Commander, Medical Corps, United States Naval Reserve, and retired from active medical practice in 2000. He has served as expert witness in circumcision lawsuits. Clifton Force, Virginia, USA.


International Child
for
Genital Autonomy
Logo


The image of the International Child for Genital Autonomy was created shortly after the First International Symposium on Circumcision, which was sponsored by the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC) and held in Anaheim, California in 1989. It was created as the logo to protect all children – males, females, and intersex – from non-therapeutic genital alterations. Without racial or religious prejudice, we affirmed this basic human right.

The International Child for Genital Autonomy signifies protection of genital integrity and self-determination of every child and now is the logo for Genital Autonomy America, the sponsor of the International Symposia on Genital Autonomy and Children’s Rights.