Subject:  Formal Complaint Regarding Discriminatory Policies on Genital Integrity of Children Within the European Union

• European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen

• European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
• Members of the European Parliament

It is well recognized by all major health authorities, including the European Parliament itself, that the forced genital cutting of girls—commonly referred to as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)—inflicts profound and lasting psychological trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and lifelong emotional suffering. Rightly, the EU has adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards FGM, criminalizing it and affording its victims protection under the law.

However, it is deeply disturbing, illegal, immoral, and hypocritical that the EU simultaneously condones or trivializes the forced genital cutting of boys — often euphemistically referred to as “circumcision” — despite the overwhelming evidence that it, too, results in severe psychological and physical harm, including PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression, sexual dysfunction, and deep personal violation.

This double standard violates:

• Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (“Human dignity is inviolable”),
• Article 3 (“Everyone has the right to respect for his or her physical and mental integrity”),
• Article 21 (“Any discrimination based on… sex… shall be prohibited”),
• and basic international human rights law under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children deserve equal protection, regardless of sex. Any policy that protects girls from genital cutting while allowing it to be inflicted upon boys is blatantly unlawful, constitutes a human rights violation, and amounts to state-condoned assault and psychological abuse.

It is particularly egregious that European authorities, while acknowledging the lifelong psychological scars caused by FGM, ignore — or worse, justify — identical harms when inflicted upon boys.
This is a betrayal of the very principles the European Union claims to uphold.

I therefore formally demand:

1. That the European Commission, Parliament, and relevant human rights bodies publicly acknowledge that Male Genital Mutilation (MGM) causes comparable physical and psychological harm as FGM.
2. That the EU move immediately to afford boys the same legal protections against non-consensual genital cutting as girls already enjoy, without exception.
3. That independent investigations be launched into the longstanding institutional discrimination that has allowed this two-tiered policy to persist unchallenged.
4. That reparative measures be discussed for those men who, as children, suffered forced genital cutting within the EU’s jurisdiction.

If the EU wishes to maintain any credibility as a defender of human rights, immediate and unambiguous action must be taken to end this glaring injustice. Anything less is complicity.

I expect a formal response to this letter within [14/30] days, detailing the steps the European authorities intend to take to address this matter.

Human rights are not negotiable. They apply equally to boys and girls. Anything less is illegal, immoral, and criminal.