Women@Google: Michealene Cristini Risley

Michealene Cristini Risley visits Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Ca, to discuss her documentary "Tapestries of Hope". This event took place June 24, 2008, as a part of the Women@Google series. For more information, please visit http://www.tapestriesofhope.com/

As a survivor of child sexual abuse, Michealene discusses how she overcame this event in her life, why it is so important that this issue be recognized, and what can be done to eradicate this issue in America and elsewhere. She will talk about her projects, as a filmmaker and writer, to address human rights and child abuse issues, such as her latest documentary, "Tapestries of Hope."

In the making of "Tapestries," Michealene travels to Zimbabwe to document Betty Makoni and the Girl Child Network, and to expose an issue that continues to be ignored: the rape and sexual abuse of thousands of young girls in Zimbabwe. The cause of these rapes is shocking: men with HIV and AIDS are counseled by local traditional healers that if they have sex with a virgin, their blood will be purified and they will be cured of the disease. The rape and abuse is out of control with little to no legal or societal consequence. Michealene is also planning a trip to Botswana to work with human rights activists to set a satellite human rights office for the Girl Child Network.

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News & Politics

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