The emotional and physical scars of a botched circumcision
Lephoto says the practice should be adapted to be safer for young men.
A picture of young boys from the Xhosa tribe attending a traditional initiation school in Libode in the Eastern Cape province. Picture: AFP
702’s Bongani Bingwa speaks with Thabo Lephoto, Clinical Psychologist
Listen below:
Bingwa said in the Eastern cape where traditional Xhosa culture is keenly observed, a man cannot be considered a man if he is not circumcised.
Regardless of his age, he will be excluded from having a voice in family or public discussions and decisions, and may be treated as an outcast.
To avoid this many young men will go to initiation or bush circumcision schools, but this can also have life-ruining consequences, said Bingwa.
He cited a recent Sunday Times article that said about 200 men's penises fell off after botched circumcisions with flint knives used by untrained people.
This usually happens at illegal bush schools.
These men may struggle to ever navigate an intimate relationship and could spend the rest of their lives feeling vulnerable and inadequate.
Lephoto says that this can lead to a rapid deterioration of a man’s self-esteem and it will change the way they interact with men and women.
In addition to this, they will likely be stigmatized by their community.
“For any kind of man this is going to be devastating.”
- Thabo Lephoto, Clinical Psychologist (IN: 03:07)
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Lephoto says that while we do not need to get rid of the practice of circumcision, the practice should be adapted to be safer for the young men.
This would involve having trained professionals perform the circumcisions while still teaching them the same lessons they would learn at initiation schools.
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