Hello! I’m Hiyat…
With over 25 years of experience working with survivors and pursuing education uniquely suited to help survivors, I hear consistently that what could have helped them through what they often described as the worst experience of their life, was to feel better prepared going through the legal process. I hear you! I am here to help support you and alleviate that feeling! I am here to prepare you to testify!
I have worked at the Calgary Criminal Courts as a judicial clerk where I learned first hand about the trial process and where I witnessed survivors testify. The shock, sadness, heartbreak, and scrutiny that I witnessed survivors endure, stuck with me. I voluntarily ran the child witness preparation program where I taught children what it meant for them to testify, how the courtroom worked, and their role within the legal process. While it was heartbreaking to teach children to testify against their abusers, I learned that they were resilience, brave, courageous, strong, and curious. I learned that those qualities empowered their ability to testify!
These experiences began my motivation for change and my pursuit of education. While working as a judicial clerk, I received a philosophy degree with a keen interest in morality and ethics, then went on to receive an education degree where I become a teacher. With my ongoing interest in social justice issues, specifically those rooted in gendered violence against women, I left teaching and pursued a Master’s degree in Justice Studies where I examined the financial, physical, psychological, and social costs of sexual victimization.
My curiosities continued and together with my memories of brutal witness testimony, I pursued a PhD in Educational Research focussing on credibility in sexual assault cases to learn how the legal system assessed a survivor’s credibility and how having one’s credibility assessed impacted their identity and their ability to make meaning from their experiences.
This is the knowledge that I am excited to share with you to empower your testimony through voice!
My Approach
What began as a curiosity in justice, the law, trauma, storytelling, and identity, became a passionate pursuit of education. I am excited to share my understanding and knowledge with you, to give you the tools you need to testify with confidence, and I’m even more excited to see how it impacts your legal experience.
My Intention
What sets me apart isn’t just my process to prepare you to testify—it’s my intention behind it! With harm reduction strategies, we will confront barriers in testifying and rape myths and stereotypes, to eliminate any feelings of shame or blame, so you are prepared to testify with confidence! You will leave feeling educated, empowered, and ready!
Lasting Impact
I take time to understand you, your story, and your needs with a humanistic approach. I believe you are more than just a witness, you are a person who has had real life experiences which are largely unheard, silenced, and dismissed. I enable you to use your voice and regain your agency.