09/01/2026
🎙️ MHR Footsteps: Conversations on Human Rights
An educational podcast featuring students, professors, experts, and practitioners discussing the field of human rights.
Episode 6: Caring About People: Community, Harm Reduction and Human Rights
In this episode, Master of Human Rights student and host Maddy Nowosad speaks with fellow MHR student Ellie Namit and Jonny Mexico of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network about approaching harm reduction through dignity, care, and community.
Their conversation explores common misconceptions about harm reduction, the importance of language and framing, and how public narratives can either deepen stigma or create space for responses centred on dignity, health, and care. They also consider the possibilities and limitations of law and policy, and the importance of community knowledge and relationships when responding to the toxic drug crisis.
Throughout the discussion, Ellie and Jonny emphasize the need for a full range of supports — including harm reduction, health care, housing, treatment where wanted, better information, and policies grounded in evidence and human rights — while respecting the dignity and agency of people who use substances.
➡️ Listen on Amazon Music:
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8fc4c6b5-3bc7-4871-bac9-ae0c82866aa7/episodes/db8a0f5a-bd11-41ee-94c4-f7f166aa5046/footsteps-caring-about-people-community-harm-reduction-and-human-rights
➡️ Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Z8jC5REM7A77es77u2ynR?si=AqXykuwSSV6_PWIZ5Tqr0A
➡️ Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/caring-about-people-community-harm-reduction-and/id1777305034?i=1000786897495
➡️ Explore Footsteps homepage at the UM, Faculty of Law:
https://umanitoba.ca/law/programs-of-study/mhr-footsteps