Natalia Vodianova has written an emotional Facebook message to her followers about her 27-year-old sister Oksana - who is autistic and has cerebral palsy - after she was the victim of discrimination in a cafe in their home town of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia.
In the post (which is written in Russian) Natalia explained how when Oksana and her assistant visited a cafe, called Flamingos, to rest after a walk, the assistant was agressively asked to leave, being told that Oksana was "scaring the customers" and that she should "go get treated and treat your child before going out in public." This was despite the fact that Natalia writes that her sister and the assistant were the only patrons in the cafe. Natalia and Oksana's mother was called to help in handling the situation and subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the post.
“I'm very pained by what happened to my mom and Oksana, and to our nanny,” the model wrote. “The owner should have been taken to the station for insulting people and discrimination; why did they take my mother?”
Дорогие,Ситуация, которая вчера произошла с моей родной сестрой Оксаной, не единичный случай, к сожалению, это та реал... > >
Posted by [Natalia Vodianova](https://www.facebook.com/natasupernova) on [Wednesday, August 12, 2015](https://www.facebook.com/natasupernova/posts/747929825336642:0)
The model also used the post to speak out on the treatment of people with disabilities in Russia in general. "The incident with Oksana had resonance, but how many more of these incidents could happen? And maybe, they're happening right now! You and I, each of us, could make it so that there are fewer of these stories. If we become more patient, kinder, more civil to each other. It doesn't matter whether we have special needs or not. We're all human. We all have equal rights."
She continued: "I personally know of incidents when children with special needs have been kicked off playgrounds, weren't accepted to schools... Adults with special needs don't get jobs even if they have the qualifications for them. Partly this happens because regular people don't know anything about those with special needs... The unknown leads to fear."
Since Natalia wrote her post a criminal inverstigation into the cafe has been launched, according to The Telegraph, due to "violation of human dignity with the threat of violence", and could result in a prison sentence of up to five years.
Natalia's post has now been shared over 100,000 times and has prompted passionate discussion about discrimination towards the disabled in Russia on social media and in the press, with coverage extending to Russian publications like The Moscow Times.
Natalia has also responded to the overwhelming support from the media and politicians, writing: "I believe this step is very important. Because, if we demand tolerance from society, we have to provide all the necessary knowledge and tools. If each and every one of us knows a little bit more about the people with the characteristics, the society will change. You'll see!"
She also announced that The Naked Heart Foundation, a charity which she set up in 2004 to help Russia's children in need, would be participating in a Webinar today entitled "When we are all different," hosted by a children's neurologist and a clinical psychologist.