Natalia Vodianova: «We are all equal in our rights»

“Something quite incredible and amazing has happened over the past two days. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, thousands of bloggers and journalists, leading politicians and newsmakers moved all at once, started talking and unanimously drew attention to the problems of people with disabilities in Russia. To draw attention to such people, NON-VIEW people in our country, has always been one of the most difficult tasks in the work of our foundation and similar organizations. For many years, Naked Hearts has been conducting awareness-raising and educational work, building inclusive parks throughout the country, gathering forums, round tables, and inviting the press to dialogue. We use for a good cause including my publicity and the fashion industry, attracting interest in this complex and unsightly topic, so that as many people as possible learn about people with special needs, let them into their minds and hearts.

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But the changes in society were tiny, terribly slow., and according to some experts, in terms of tolerance, Russia still lags behind Europe by about 40 years. And suddenly, when the day before yesterday the girl Oksana was kicked out of the summer cafe, everything in the world seemed to have changed and stood upright. It happened literally like in a fairy tale, when something bad and repulsive suddenly gives birth to something beautiful. I am incredibly encouraged by the wave of interest in the topic and the passionate desire of our society to stop discrimination, fight against ignorance, the willingness to bare our hearts to believe in the dream of understanding, give hope to those most in need and share love with the whole world.

However, I want to ask you — let’s not change one intolerance for another. Everything should be both within the legal framework and just human. Protecting people with special needs, we cannot slide into an attack on their offenders and, even more so, to insults or calls for settling scores. The case with Oksana became resonant. But how many more cases like this could happen? Or maybe they are happening right now! You and I, each of us, can make sure that there are fewer such stories. If we all become more tolerant, kinder, more polite to each other. It doesn’t matter if we have special features or not. We all people. We are all equal in our rights.

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I personally know casesWhen children with special needs are driven away from playgrounds, not taken to school, kindergarten, parents of ordinary children forbid to be friends with them. Adults with disabilities are not hired, even if they are qualified, they have nowhere to go. Often this happens because ordinary people do not know anything about people with special needs. There is a problem of information vacuum. The unknown causes fear. And this fear leads to unsightly consequences, such as the case with my sister.

The Naked Heart Foundation decided to hold an unscheduled webinar «When we are all different».The Fund’s experts, pediatric neurologist Svyatoslav Dovbnya and clinical psychologist Tatyana Morozova, will tell you in an accessible language about people with disabilities in a live broadcast. What to do if you met them in a cafe, park, public transport, how to behave, how to react.

The webinar will take place on Monday, August 17th. for this link. Beginning at 10:00 Moscow time. You can send your questions to experts right now to the address [email protected] or leave a comment on a post on my Facebook page (an extremist organization banned in Russia).

I consider this step very important. After all, if we demand tolerance from society, we are simply obliged to help it to be tolerant, to provide all the necessary knowledge and tools. If each of us knows a little more about people with disabilities, society will change. You’ll see!»