Circumcision has been classed as a potentially harmful practice in new official guidance for criminal prosecutors in England and Wales, but controversial plans to class it as possible child abuse have been dropped.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided against including circumcision alongside dowry abuse, witchcraft and female genital mutilation in its new guidance on honour-based abuse, after objections from Jewish and Muslim groups when the plans were revealed by the Guardian.
Instead it has included a similar section on circumcision in updated guidance on offences against the person. It says: “In certain circumstances, such as the procedure being carried out by those falsely claiming to be suitably qualified practitioners or carried out in non-sterile conditions, it can cross the line into a harmful practice.”
Prosecutors are advised to consider child cruelty offences under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 or assault offences under the Offences against the Person Act 1861. The guidance also refers to separate guidance on child abuse.
Earlier CPS wording classing circumcision as a possible “form of child abuse” has been removed after it prompted alarm from religious leaders. Writing in the Jewish Chronicle, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain said the late Queen Elizabeth II had not been accused of child abuse when her three sons were each circumcised.
Romain, the convener of Reform Beit Din, Progressive Judaism’s religious court, said he approved of the altered wording. “I very much welcome the change of attitude by the CPS not to castigate circumcision, as it is an important practice for so many people of different faiths and cultures,” he told the Guardian.
He added: “Circumcision can be safe and meaningful if done by experts, but rogue operators can both bring it into disrepute and endanger children.”
Jonathan Arkush, co-chair of Milah UK, which promotes and protects the right of the Jewish community to carry out religious circumcision, said guidance upheld “the very longstanding status of male circumcision as a legal practice”.
He added: “Male circumcision as carried out by the Jewish community was not and is not in any way related to the concept of honour-based abuse, as the CPS has rightly recognised. The updated guidance has corrected the wording that appeared in an early stage draft that was reported by the Guardian.
“Some of the references to male circumcision that appeared in the early draft were misleading and wrong. The CPS is to be commended for putting right the errors.”
Since 2001, circumcision has been a factor in the deaths of seven boys, including three babies who bled to death. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS trust admitted 29 babies between 2022 and 2024 with serious complications from circumcision, including sepsis and haemorrhage, according to figures obtained under freedom of information laws.
Last December, a coroner issued warnings about insufficient regulation over who can perform a circumcision, after the death of a six-month-old boy, Mohamed Abdisamad, from a streptococcus infection in 2023.
In January 2025 Mohammad Siddiqui, a former doctor, was jailed for causing “gratuitous pain and suffering” in circumcisions conducted between 2014 and 2019. In May, Mohammed Alazawi, who falsely claimed to be a doctor, was convicted of six counts of wounding with intent in circumcision procedures.
Alejandro Sanchez, the human rights lead at the National Secular Society, said: “Given the appalling harm wrought on children by Mohammad Siddiqui and Mohammed Alazawi, the CPS are absolutely right to include circumcision in new prosecutorial guidance.
“Despite the efforts of apologists for circumcision, the guidance correctly maintains that the practice may constitute child abuse and child cruelty. Religious groups that openly perform unanaesthetised circumcisions – which the CPS described last year as ‘gratuitous infliction of pain’ – should take note.”
A father, who wished to remain anonymous and who is a pursuing a complaint against a doctor who left his son seriously mutilated after a botched circumcision, said the new guidance was a “positive step” but that it was too vague.
He said: “Without clearer definitions and practical direction on consent, safeguarding and best interests, the guidance risks offering reassurance on paper while leaving families without meaningful protection in practice.”
A CPS spokesperson said it recognised that circumcisionwas “a legal practice that carries social, cultural and religious significance”, adding: “However, there are certain cases when the procedure is carried out improperly and in unsafe conditions where it can cause significant harm and distress to victims. Our guidance directs prosecutors to consider the circumstances on a case-by-case basis, noting the factors that may lead to the practice amounting to a criminal offence.”
