Roohi Dodd knows that having the right person to talk to at the right time can make all the difference, which is why she is devoting her career to providing support for those affected by violence.
Set to graduate this week with her BScN from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Nursing, Dodd is already working as a public health nurse in Victoria. She will soon add duties as a forensic nurse examiner — a specialty that will allow her to collect legal evidence as she provides medical support to people who have suffered sexual or domestic assault, whether they are planning to press charges or not.
"It's being that safe person, and it's very much trauma-informed," said Dodd. "Forensic nurses are trained to have those conversations; they're going to be with you one-on-one for an extended period of time, so it doesn't feel rushed in any way."
While Dodd, 26, has fortunately never experienced violence herself, she learned about it young. While studying for her first degree in psychology at the U of A, she took a job as a receptionist at the Saffron Sexual Assault Centre in Sherwood Park. She remembers an elderly woman coming in to seek support for abuse that had happened to her as a child.
"She never told anyone, not even her mom, because it was someone in the family and it was such a taboo subject," explained Dodd, now 26. "She had nightmares and anxiety for all those years but never got any help.
"That resonated with me," Dodd said.
