U.S. embassy staff engaged with government ministries to discuss government
support for religious freedom...

Embassy staff engaged with
government officials, civil society, and foreign missions to draw attention to the
potential impacts of a draft law that would limit religious practices of animal
slaughter. Embassy staff met with the Jewish and Muslim communities to discuss
their shared concerns about the impact of government guidelines discouraging
male circumcision...

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health guidelines for immigrants’ health and
wellbeing discouraged the circumcision of males and continued to withhold public
healthcare funding for such procedures.

In its guidelines, which were
recommendations rather than requirements per prior Supreme Court rulings, the
ministry stated only licensed physicians should perform nonmedical circumcision
of boys, a child’s guardians should be informed of the risks and irreversibility of
the procedure, and the procedure should not be carried out without their consent
on boys old enough to understand the procedure. The ministry termed
nonmedical male circumcision a violation of child bodily integrity and self-
determinationministry stated only licensed physicians should perform nonmedical circumcision
of boys, a child’s guardians should be informed of the risks and irreversibility of
the procedure, and the procedure should not be carried out without their consent
on boys old enough to understand the procedure. The ministry termed
nonmedical male circumcision a violation of child bodily integrity and self-
determination

In September, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare sent a questionnaire to
over 40 government and civil society stakeholder organizations on the topic of
“Cultural Diversity” as part of the Childhood without Violence Action Plan. The
survey asked organizations to “start a discussion about the age limit [for
circumcision], i.e. to postpone circumcision until the boy can participate in
decision-making himself.” The survey asked each organization to provide a short
description of factors that promoted or impeded implementation of the
discussion and requested information on actions taken since summer 20