“You’re scaring away all of our customers,” or Why Russia’s latest moral failure should not surprise you

So, a few days ago, this happened:

Supermodel Natalia Vodianova has ignited a firestorm of discussion about the rights of the disabled in her native Russia after her autistic sister was kicked out of a Nizhny Novgorod cafe by the owner, who allegedly accused her of scaring customers away.

In an August 12 Facebook post, Vodianova wrote that her 27-year-old sister Oksana, who has been diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy, and Oksana’s caretaker stopped at the cafe the previous day to seek respite from the heat.

After the caretaker ordered a snack for Oksana, Vodianova wrote, the owner of the cafe approached the two women and told them: “Why don’t you leave? You’re scaring away all of our customers. Go get medical help for you and your child. And then go out in public.”

In response to Vodianova’s mother’s attempts to intervene,

a security guard threatened to “call the crazy house” and “lock you in the cellar” if the two women did not leave the premises….After her mother left the cafe with Oksana and the caretaker, they were confronted by police who told them they were being “detained for minor hooliganism…”

If purchase levitra you have erectile problem that stops you from making love, it is time to see doctor. Risk factors If you are going through premature ejaculation then there are a number of cipla cialis risk factors that can affect your ability to attain an erection. -Treatments for chemotherapy’s other side effects, such as nausea medication, can also cause leg pain. As a viagra from uk its goal is to provide all its customers best support and assistance with respect to question regarding delivery, services, and products. People first develop metabolic syndrome and this eventually develops into diabetes. viagra overnight So the federal Investigative Committee opened an investigation.  Hands were wrung.  Horrified-sounding words were spoken.  Fine.  But this does not ameliorate two terrible facts about Russia, and its treatment of disabled individuals:

1.  Disabled individuals (and especially disabled children) have been excluded, isolated, and otherwise denied their full human rights before, and during, the communist regime:   http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/936/1111

2.  Disabled individuals (and especially disabled children) are not doing much better in post-communist Russia:  http://www.rferl.mobi/a/26584457.html

The truth is this:  Official policies allow for (or, at best, ignore) widespread abuse of the disabled, including physical and psychological threats and public humiliation.  And for too long a time, the Russian public largely went along with the abuse; tapping into some of the darker aspects of Russian society, some enjoyed the ugly, oppressive displays.  One can only hope that now, with the presence of social media that thus far has, at least in part, managed to evade even Putin’s iron grip on information, these displays are obscured neither by the iron curtain nor by the quiet approval of the locals, changing the situation for those most affected by this national disgrace.  Sunlight being the best disinfectant and all….

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