As an undergraduate student majoring in health sciences, Nadia Fyfe was drawn to courses on policy, motivated to address how systemic barriers and social determinants of health impact access to health care.
Those interests brought Fyfe to Western to study law, where a recent work placement saw her passions converge.
Fyfe spent the summer working with the HIV Legal Network, supported by the Faculty of Law’s Summer After 1L (SA1L) program, which provides selected first-year students with 10 weeks of paid legal experience before heading into second year.
“Working at the HIV Legal Network was the perfect opportunity to combine my interests in science and health care with law,” said Fyfe, one of 120 SA1L participants and one of 40 students placed at community agencies or advocacy organizations in the program’s first year.
“Giving back to the community through some kind of social justice work was also high on my list.”
Mentorship and meaningful legal experience
The HIV Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with HIV or AIDS and other populations around the world disproportionately affected by HIV, punitive laws and policies and criminalization.
Nadia Fyfe (Christopher Kindratsky/Western Communications)
Advancing its mission through research and analysis, litigation, public education and community mobilization, the organization provided Fyfe with “amazing opportunities.”
“I was very excited and a little bit surprised to get to work on so many important projects with an awesome team of lawyers, right from the very first day,” she said. “They helped me gain a lot of legal experience and a new understanding about a lot of issues, both in Canada and internationally.”
One of her projects included exploring how non-citizens in Canada living with HIV are struggling to access treatment. Another examined health care gaps within the Canadian prison system.
“That was very interesting,” Fyfe said, “especially looking at different populations, like Indigenous Peoples and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
She also helped draft a submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health.
“We reported on harm reduction strategies in Canada, showing what’s going well and what we can improve on in the future.”
Being invited to co-author and choose the topic of an opinion editorial piece stands out as one of the highlights in her placement.
“I chose to write about the gaps and barriers migrants to Canada living with HIV and hepatitis C face accessing health care, focusing on the mandatory wait periods and how it can be a public health threat to all. I was pretty passionate about this topic and enjoyed writing about it with two great individuals at the HIV Legal Network.”
And she was pleasantly surprised when The Hill Times published the piece this past August.
“That was very exciting and something I did not expect to see happen as part of my summer,” Fyfe said.
Growing skills, giving back
Her contributions were also recognized within the organization.
“Nadia was such a fantastic addition to the team,” said lawyer and HIV Legal Network co-executive director Sandra Ka Hon Chu.
“We benefited immensely from her legal and policy research, spanning Canadian immigration, criminal, prison and health law to international human rights law,” Ka Hon Chu said. “Nadia’s thoughtful research and analysis enabled us to produce public legal education resources and advance our human rights advocacy in Canada and beyond – protecting and promoting the rights of newcomers, people who use drugs, people in prison and LGBTQ+ people.”
Fyfe counts feedback from her mentors as one of the best aspects of her SA1L experience.
“Receiving feedback on my legal writing and research skills from people who’ve been doing it so well throughout their careers was invaluable. I really enjoyed the process of drafting the work, submitting it to the lawyers, gaining feedback and watching it transform.” – Nadia Fyfe, SA1L program participant
“Enhancing my writing, research and communication skills was a big thing for me and learning so much about empathy and advocacy is something I hope will help me in the future.”
“This experience also inspired me to contribute to pro bono work throughout my legal studies,” said Fyfe, who began working as a volunteer case worker at Western’s Intellectual Property and Innovation Law Clinic when she returned to campus this fall.
“I hope to continue giving back through pro bono work or in some capacity throughout my legal career. That’s definitely an interest I hope to keep growing.”
