GROUNDBREAKING WORK OF INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED FATHERHOOD AND MEN'S ISSUES THOUGHT LEADER J. STEVEN SVOBODA, M.S., J.D. EXPLORED BY IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R)

 

PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 20 March 2013 -- Internationally acclaimed Thought Leader on Fatherhood and Men’s Issues and Harvard Law School alumnus Human rights attorney J. Steven Svoboda, M.S., J.D. and pediatrician Robert S. Van Howe, M.D. have published a new article in one of the world’s leading journals on medical ethics arguing that the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP’s) position regarding male circumcision lacks credible support. The article, titled, “Out of step: fatal flaws in the latest AAP policy report on neonatal circumcision,” was being published online on Monday, 18 March 2013, leading off the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics (JME). The issue also includes a second article by Mr. Svoboda detailing why male circumcision violates universal human rights principles and agreements. The US’ premier organization of pediatricians has already arranged for the JME to publish its response in an ill-fated attempt to justify the medically and ethically flawed arguments in its policy statement and technical report. This past Saturday, ARC released a list of more than fifty legal settlements and judgments awarded due to harm caused by male circumcision and totaling over $80 million (www.arclaw.org/resources/settlements). Svoboda also just recently completed for publication in an upcoming book from Springer an article about problems with applying informed consent to male circumcision, titled, "Tortured Bodies, Tortured Doctrines: Informed Consent As a Legal Fiction Inapplicable to Neonatal Male Circumcision." 

In 2001, Mr. Svoboda transformed male circumcision into an international human rights issue when he traveled to Geneva, consulted with the United Nations’ Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and made oral and written submissions. Mr. Svoboda’s submissions became part of the official United Nations record and the first document ever accepted by the United Nations on male circumcision. It was an act that has catapulted Mr. Svoboda into the world’s history books. 

So, why has male circumcision become an international human rights issue? Any why is Mr. Svoboda helping to move male circumcision into the Global Dialogue on Fatherhood and Men’s Issues? You’ll find the answers in the Winter 2013 issue of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®, a quarterly Fatherhood Men’s Issues journal which is reprinting with permission, “The Limits of the Law: Comparative Analysis of Legal and Extralegal Methods to Control Child Body Mutilation Practices” – a chapter authored by Mr. Svoboda published in "Understanding Circumcision" (ISBN 978-0-306-46701-1). “Understanding Circumcision” was published in 2001 by Springer Science + Business Media LLC (New York). 

"Mr. Svoboda is a truth seeker. He is not afraid to go where angels fear to tread. Circumcision is a subject that is rarely discussed publicly or privately and Mr. Svoboda is helping to move this subject squarely into the center of the Global Dialogue on Fatherhood and Men’s Issues. The body of work that Mr. Svoboda has produced on circumcision provides the reader with a greater understanding of other cultures and an enhanced level of compassion. It will change the reader’s view of the world and move the reader to think and to question. We are honored that Mr. Svoboda has entrusted IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® with the privilege of sharing his groundbreaking work with our readers,” remarked Diane A. Sears, the Managing Editor of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®.

In 1997, Mr. Svoboda established Attorneys for the Rights of the Child (“ARC”) (www.arclaw.org), a federally and state-certified nonprofit corporation. Svoboda graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1983. He holds a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1991, he graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. A patent lawyer in a well-known Chicago intellectual property law firm, Svoboda also practices human rights law in Berkeley, California. Over the course of the past several years and with the assistance of volunteer lawyers, ARC has released a compilation of worldwide legal decisions and settlements upholding the rights of individuals who were circumcised. ARC leverages its work to protect both male and female genital integrity through cooperation with other organizations. The International Symposium on Human Rights and Modern Society bestowed the Human Rights Award upon Mr. Svoboda in 2002. He has utilized his legal expertise in the representation of plaintiffs in several state and federal lawsuits to protect genital integrity. Svoboda coauthored with Dr. Warren Farrell and Dr. James Sterba, “Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men? A Debate”, a beset-selling gender studies textbook which Oxford University Press published in 2008.   Svoboda is also the publisher of over 175 reviews of books which explore masculinity and men’s rights; Public Relations Director and a Board member of the National Coalition for Men, the world’s largest and oldest Men’s Rights organization; long standing columnist for GRIP Magazine which has published over 40 installments of his columns entitled, “Gender, Law, and Fatherhood”; and an expert tournament chess player. 

For further information about Mr. Svoboda’s groundbreaking work on male circumcision, visit the website of Attorneys for the Rights of the Child at www.arclaw.org.

The Winter 2013 issue of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® which features Mr. Svoboda’s thought provoking work on circumcision was released for distribution on 18 March 2013. www.arclaw.org