Although details of the physical risks associated with malecircumcision are mentioned in information sources such as the NHSwebsite (National Health Service, 2017a) and WebMD (WebMD, 2020),these same sources do not provide any details regarding the potentialpsychological risks.
This raises some concern as in a study involving 313 circumcised men,83.1% reported they had experienced emotional harm, 75.1% reportedpsychological harm and 74.4% reported low self-esteem, each caused asa result of their circumcision (Denniston & Milos, 1997). Thesefindings indicate that a large percentage of men experience some formof psychological harm as a result of their circumcision.
As there is evidence that male circumcision could also be a traumatic event through reasons such as evoking pain and inducing a sense of powerlessness, it questions whether circumcision-based trauma should be shown greater recognition.