This week, we find out about an interesting challenge to an employment law in South Korea. The law was passed in 1963 and stops people who aren't blind from taking jobs as massage therapists. Is this law absolutely crucial to one group of people whilst being unfair to others? Yvonne Archer is joined by William Kremer as she looks at a very difficult issue.

This week's question: Approximately how many people in the world are living with a disability of some kind?

a) 2%
b) 10%
c) 12%

You'll hear the answer at the end of the programme!

Listen
	Blind Masseurs

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Vocabulary from the programme

a massage therapist
someone who uses his or her hands and fingers to rub different areas of the head, limbs and body to help stop pain or increase movement

masseurs
male massage therapists, but also used for females

masseuses
female massage therapists, never used for males

decades
tens of years ? a decade is ten years

cannot cope with demand
is unable to manage and complete all the work there is to do on time

awash with
literally, covered in water, but here, used as an adjective to describe a place where there are lots of people

Example sentence:
"During the summer months, the streets are awash with people."

barbers' shops
a place where people, usually men, pay to have their hair cut

sighted
able to see

practitioners
people who do something that's practical

non-visually impaired
able to see, having no problems with eyesight

constitutional court
a legal court where laws are made or changed

a monopoly
an exclusive right to do something

patronising
treating people as though they are children, have little intelligence or are of little importance

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Extras
Download this programme (mp3 - 2.8 MB)
Programme script (pdf - 40K)

Related Links

BBC news story
Information on people with disabilities*


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