FAQ / Contact

See What is VMMC?

See What's wrong with VMMC?

No. We support circumcision as an elective procedure for consenting and fully informed adults. However, in targeting children below the age of consent, and in employing misleading health claims, coercion, and bribery ("conditional economic compensation") of vulnerable populations, VMMC fails to meet these criteria.

In recent years, our work has been picked up by various groups for use in anti-circumcision protests outside of AIDS conferences. We have no affiliation with these groups. Moreover, we are committed to working with – not against – public health agencies for urgently needed policy change.

Any non-African group using our name, logo, or likeness should be reported to the VMMC Experience Project using the contact information below.

See our analysis here.

Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic has worsened from the start of the mass circumcision campaign (UNAIDS, 2016), with teen HIV incidence rising nearly 30% (UNICEF, 2016). Mourning the loss of loved ones to AIDS following circumcision, African men and women have called the campaign “a deadly deception” and an “atrocity.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends male circumcision as a means of reducing female-to-male HIV transmission by 50–60%. However, the supporting trials have been criticised on account of methodological flaws. When accounting for the immunological features of the foreskin and the politics involved in WHO’s recommendation, a more complex picture emerges than what is commonly presented.

Real-world data do not support the claim that circumcision reduces HIV prevalence or incidence. USAID statistics found the opposite at the start of VMMC roll-out; while the available national Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data showed no significant difference (see Garenne, 2008). However, the false security provided to circumcised men and their partners is a leading source of new HIV infections today. As long as VMMC remains an HIV-preventive policy, HIV rates will continue to rise.

Male circumcision is not universally accepted as an HIV preventive measure. Some experts have attributed the World Health Organisation's recommendation to an informal network of circumcision proponents. These individuals "were active in all phases of this process, ranging from studies of the recommendation's efficacy, feasibility and acceptability to its adoption and implementation." (Giami et al., 2015)

In 2015, Odoch et al. found the same 11 author names – including the authors of the circumcision trials – on 80% of all VMMC studies and articles in the Global Health database.

See our Scientific Analysis.

Studies by the VMMC-promoting network have found no adverse effects of male circumcision on sexuality. Our investigation found strong adverse effects on sexuality. See our Sexology Analysis.

Yes. Mobilisers regularly abduct school-going children for VMMC, as confirmed by our investigation and innumerable eyewitness reports. For more information, see our VMMC Abductions page.

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Yes. Our videos are covered by a Creative Commons license. They are free to download, reproduce, remix, and distribute; though we ask those who benefit from our work to make a donation.

Join our letter-writing campaign to urge President Trump to halt American expenditure for circumcising Africans. Join us on Facebook and spread the word. Contact your local media. Make a donation to help us empower Africans to speak out. Every dollar helps. We can’t do this work without you.