Suriname
Latin America
of males circumcised
Rare
Demographics
Circumcision rate, in context
Estimated share of males circumcised
Estimates derived from WHO/UNAIDS-based prevalence data. Global average ≈ 38%.
The picture in Suriname
An estimated 15% of males are circumcised in Suriname (Latin America).
By the Numbers
Circumcision prevalence with HIV, education & policy indicators as context. Tap any card to compare.
Circumcision rate
% of males
15.9%
Context indicators from public UNAIDS/WHO-based sources; some scores are editorial or pending. Figures describe each country and are not evidence of causation.
Sexually Transmitted Infections
HIV and related indicators — context, not proof that circumcision protects.
Circumcision is often sold as protection against HIV and other infections. That claim comes from a narrow set of trials and applies, at most, to one route of transmission — it is not general STI protection. The figures below describe Suriname; they reflect many factors (testing, behaviour, healthcare access, and reporting) and are not evidence that circumcision causes or prevents them.
How STIs actually spread — and what protects you1 in 77 adults
Research coverage
How complete and source-backed this country file is.
Sources
8
Legal status
Curated
Write-up
Available
Incidents
None verified
Derived from current data.
Open full research fileThe law
Legal status of non-therapeutic circumcision of minors.
No Surinamese statute specifically governs non-therapeutic male circumcision — confirmed absent from ARC Law's compiled list of the only countries known to regulate the practice (Sweden, South Africa, Australia, Germany) or to have made unsuccessful attempts to do so. This research did not independently verify Suriname's female genital mutilation legal status — an honest gap. Female genital mutilation is a separate matter and must not be conflated with male circumcision.
Research about Suriname
Peer-reviewed findings specific to this country, from our reference library.
Morris 2016 PMC4772313: Suriname 15.9% — HIGHEST of a 4-country South American batch (confirmed 3-0).
Suriname: highest proportional Muslim population in the Americas (13.9%, 2012 census, ~75,053 people).
Two DISTINCT Muslim diasporas (2-1 confidence, not conflated): Javanese-Surinamese (~67% Muslim of that ethnic group, ~49,533 people, 3rd-largest ethnic group nationally) vs Hindustani-Surinamese (~12.6% Muslim of that group, ~18,734 people, minority within a Hindu-majority community).
Javanese-Surinamese sunatan ritual circumcision within the slametan ceremonial complex, tied to shahada recitation — MOST DISTINCTIVE finding of this research pass; small 5-person ethnographic sample, qualitative not quantitative.
Benchmarks & context
International evidence for reading the figures above — not measured Suriname rates.
~1,400,920 circumcisions, all ages (US insurance claims data)
Total adverse events under 0.5%; serious AEs ~0.0008%–0.07%. Crucially, AE rates 10–20× higher when done AFTER infancy (ages 1–9) than neonatally — directly relevant where boys are cut older (e.g. PH tuli at ~8–12).
[104]Voluntary medical male circumcision, ages 10–14, trained providers
Severe adverse events on the order of 1–3 per 100,000 — but ONLY with trained providers, quality assurance and informed consent. The benchmark for what safe, supervised provision looks like; the opposite end from informal provision.
[105]Cases reported to WHO, 2014–2018
WHO logged 32 urethral-fistula cases (2014–2018) and, in one tetanus consultation, 8 deaths among 12 associated cases. Illustrative of rare-but-severe harms in unhygienic settings — not a national rate.
[66]Traditional vs physician providers
One Turkish series found 85% complications with traditional providers vs 2.6% with physicians; a Kenyan one 35% vs 17%. Provider setting dominates outcomes — the pattern behind warnings about informal practitioners everywhere.
[66]American Academy of Pediatrics task force
Benefits said to outweigh risks but “not great enough” to recommend routine circumcision — leaving the decision to families. The reference point invoked on both sides of the consent/necessity debate.
[93]Inpatient neonatal circumcisions, 2001–2010
200 early deaths over ten years among 9.83 million inpatient neonatal circumcisions — explicitly correlational, NOT causal. A measured counterpoint to higher litigation-cited estimates.
[91]News from Suriname
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