VYSHAKHI KASHINATH is a lawyer by profession and a humanitarian advocate, and activist by heart. She’s one of the founders of WCAO, an organization that helps women and children go through their grievance process, and she’s also an entrepreneur with her own restaurant chain, called Medium Rare.
Additionally, she spends time working with organizations that deal with workplace behavior, ethics, and equality, with female empowerment and development being one of her main focuses.
Due to her inspired work and incredible success, Vyshakhi is listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the Canadian Prairies. She has achieved many awards throughout her career.
Today, we’re happy to share our exclusive interview with Vyshakhi Kashinath, where she tells her story in her own words and we talk about the important humanitarian work she has dedicated her life to.
Q: I’m honored to speak with you today. Why don’t you start by telling me a little about yourself? How did you get to where you are today?
Vyshakhi: I’ve gone through a lot to get to where I am today, but when I look back, I see a little girl’s dreams come true! I pursued a law degree because I wanted to be of service and co-founded WCAO to change people’s lives for the better.
I got my humanitarian spirit from my mother, who always helped others even though we didn’t have much. She also helped me develop the “figure out and make it happen” attitude that has led me to where I am today.
Throughout my career, I’ve been honored to work with and learn from some of the world’s most successful law firms and brands, which has helped me earn my skills. In short, I’ve gotten to where I am through hard work!
Q: I’m sure success hasn’t come easily. What challenges have you overcome?
V: I faced many different challenges. Moving to the UK at a young age to pursue my education while also supporting my family back home was tough. I had to juggle underpaid work and school, which was a struggle. As a scholarship student, I had to keep my grades up no matter what, but I succeeded.
After I graduated, I got rejected multiple times because I lacked experience and when I started as an entrepreneur, I wasn’t taken seriously either. The thing that got me through all these challenges is something my mother always used to say to me; “If you don’t, then who? If not today, then when?”
That pushed me forward and helped me keep a positive attitude, which is what drives my energy and willingness to fight until I achieve my goals. My struggles have made me who I am. It wasn’t an easy ride, but that’s what makes things exciting and worthwhile.
Q: How did you start working as a humanitarian?
V: Giving back to the community was always one of my goals and one of the issues that interested me the most was violence against women. While I was getting my Bachelor’s, I worked with an organization that dealt with issues of rape and domestic abuse.
That’s how I met a lot of amazing people that were working on human trafficking and rape violence, so we decided to combine our efforts and found WCAO. Today, we have around 800 interdisciplinary professionals working on public health response and a committee focused on research, education, and training protocol development, advocacy, and direct services.
We believe we are moving the needle and we’ve been able to push forward key legislation on health and trafficking. As a result, over 11 health professional societies have policy statements on health and trafficking now. Additionally, our education and training group has been involved in informing federal efforts on what a human trafficking training program for health professionals should look like.
Q: Who inspires you in the world of humanitarian work?
V: The only people I truly admire are the ones who are authentic. The people that have accepted that no one is entirely good or evil. They can see humanity in everyone, forgive easily, and laugh a lot, and they’re not always leaders; they’re found in every profession.
Q: Is there a type of person who’s more easily targeted by traffickers?
V: Immigrant young girls and women are often more vulnerable to being trafficked, especially if they travel alone without documentation, have previously experienced abuse or sexual violence, and don’t have a long-term plan for what to do when they migrate. They usually end up in brothels.
Q: How do these brothels work?
V: Usually, there’s a group of sex workers and a group of trafficked women who are kept hidden behind fake walls. What these brothels do is create a façade to hide the trafficked women and keep them drugged so they can provide sexual services. Some customers seek trafficked women specifically because I believe they get pleasure from that power dynamic and these brothels fulfill that.
Q: What are the challenges of rescuing victims and prosecuting traffickers?
V: One of the biggest challenges is that victims of trafficking don’t always realize they’re being exploited. They just think that they have poor work conditions, so they don’t speak out. As for traffickers, they often have ties to the police so even if they’re found out, the judicial system can’t do much. By far, the biggest issue is that victims are in transit and they don’t enter the judicial system, which doesn’t guarantee protection.
Q: Is this a direct result of the humanitarian crisis?
V: Human trafficking is a result of economic issues and gender-based violence. If we’re going to prevent it, we need to address economic issues and the patriarchal systems that allow women to be seen as objects for consumption. Human trafficking is also a result of a capitalistic system that trades human beings. Additionally, our society is exploitative; the people who frequent these brothels make human trafficking profitable. This is a social issue that runs deep because our social systems normalize exploitation and allow it to happen.
Q: You recently received the 2022 Global Leadership Award. To close this, what advice do you have for upcoming leaders and humanitarians?
V: It sounds like a cliché, but I think it’s important for male and female leaders and humanitarians to follow their passion. Figure out what you’re good at, partner with people who have different skills, and seek challenging mentors. Additionally, you have to embrace failure because it’s how we learn. You have to accept it and build the resilience to keep going.
One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that career trajectories are linear, but that’s not at all the case. All the experiences I’ve had have informed me and helped me strengthen my leadership and management skills, which are essential if you want to make a difference.