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2,000 disabled demonstrators attended a rally in central Athens in December to protest sweeping benefit cuts that have affected the disabled Petros Giannakouris/AP/Press Association Images
Greece
Greece classes paedophilia as a 'disability'
The expansion of the list of state-recognised disability categories to include paedophiles, kleptomaniacs and sadomasochists has concerned disability groups in Greece.
A DECISION BY the Greek government to categorise paedophiles, kleptomaniacs and pyromaniacs as “disabled” has been met with concern by disability groups in the country.
Disability groups fear that the expansion of the list of state-recognised disability categories could undermine their state benefits.
The updated list includes paedophiles, kleptomaniacs, pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists – and comes at a time when the country is cutting payments to welfare recipients, reports the New York Times.
The Greek Labour Ministry insisted that the inclusion of such behavioural disorders did not signify benefit entitlement. However, the head of Greece’s National Confederation of Disabled People, Yannis Vardakastanis, told the BBC that the new code may be used to “cut the number of disabled people with a right to disability benefits”.
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