(original article posted here)

UNLV student Travis Wisdom has been battling the centuries-old Western tradition of male circumcision for two years. And he’s backing it up with research.

A women’s studies major in his senior year, Wisdom is passionate about sharing his views and research on the preservation of the genital integrity of infants and is seeking to educate people about what he said is the danger of the practice of circumcision.

Wisdom was invited to travel to Lisbon, Portugal to share the knowledge of the history of circumcision that he has gained after two years of research. He will travel to Canada soon after he returns to speak on the medical aspects of circumcision.

In September, he will travel to the United Kingdom to speak about genital autonomy in a conference and assist those who have been circumcised and regret it.

“When he comes home, he will have more to say, more to offer, more experience and more education,” said Marilyn Milos, director of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers, which has worked with Wisdom and identified with the cause of eradicating infant circumcision.

“Everything he does, he does with dignity and respect,” she said of Wisdom. “He is responsible and conscious.”

Wisdom was inspired to start his research after he watched part of a video that depicted a circumcision and engaged in a class discussion on the issue.

“I made the decision that I needed to do research to understand how can someone do that to a child as a doctor,” Wisdom said. “How they can hear the screams of a child and think nothing of it?”

Wisdom interned with Doctors Against Circumcision for one year, after which he contacted Milos.

In Nevada, circumcision rates are the lowest in the country — 20 percent. Wisdom helped to establish a second NOCIRC chapter in the state, which is the only chapter in Las Vegas.

“I love what he is doing,” Milos said. “The fact that he is a young man who understands this issue is remarkable … He is coming forward in this movement and doing some wonderful things.”

Wisdom’s research has focused on the medical aspect of circumcision. He said that nowadays, most doctors don’t know the exact medical reason as to why circumcision is practiced.

“The United States is the only country in the world to [perform circumcision on most of the male populations] for secular reasons,” Wisdom said.

He explained that the practice of circumcision runs deep in American culture and has become established as an acceptable medical operation, starting in the West as a way to prevent children from masturbating because doctors believed that masturbation was the reason for many diseases.

“In the beginning, circumcision was said to prevent diseases from head to toe, then hygiene started to be implemented [as a reason],” he said.

However, Wisdom said that there is no necessity to circumcise a child for hygienic purposes.

“Teach a child how to clean his penis and there will be no problem,” he said. “Not only is circumcision utterly ridiculous. It’s extremely barbaric.”

Wisdom also explained that most physicians perform circumcision on the basis of preventing penile cancer without telling parents of babies that penile cancer is even less common than male breast cancer.

“I always get nervous when a doctor alleges the necessity of circumcision,” Wisdom said.

He also said that circumcision can cause neurogenic shock on infants because it is a procedure usually performed without anesthesia. In most cases, babies are too young to undergo anesthesia.

Wisdom said he believes circumcision is a human rights violation and should not be performed on children, regardless of religion.

“It is not a minor surgery and it’s not something that doesn’t cause trauma to the body,” Wisdom said. “Circumcision is an act of violence and a misappropriation of power.”

Wisdom is affiliated with religious organizations that are against circumcision. He believes that, in some ways, circumcision can be a way for religions to maintain dominance and control.

“Your religious right ends with the rights of someone else’s body,” Wisdom said. “[Nothing] gives you the right to harm someone else’s body in the name of religion.”

Milos commended Wisdom for his commitment to the issue of male circumcision and said that she is eager for him to continue his advocacy both nationally and internationally, though she said that changing people’s minds about such a long-standing practice will not be an easy task.

“When you challenge the dominant paradigm and the status quo,” Milos said, “you make a lot of people angry with you.”