Torture, transformation or treatment? Ethics and physical interventions to the sexual self

Abstract

This paper explores some of the ethical issues arising from the multitude of sex-related physical interventions practised worldwide, from footbinding to penile amputation. It focuses on non-consensual practices such as male and female infant circumcision, and on autonomous adult choices which are invasive to varying degrees, including gender re-assignment, breast enlargement and sildenafil. It highlights the relevance of cultural, social, political and economic factors and how they influence definitions of what is ethical. Finally, it considers the impact of mass migration on ethical values in clinical practice and how Western cultural values relating to the body, gender and sexuality are being challenged by a new multicultural society.