Sexually harassed at workplace, she hit back by creating a Rs 1.5 crore turnover awareness enterprise

 

When Shikhar Mitral decided to quit her job at the company after facing constant sexual harassment in the places where she worked, she was not running away in fear, but preparing for a reaction. He would create an organization to raise awareness of sexual harassment among women and create safer jobs for women.

"I had changed eight jobs to protect myself from workplace harassment. However, it didn't work. I was sexually harassed at every company I joined." So, one day in 2010, I decided to quit my job and start a business. Organization to raise awareness about the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace," says Shikhar.

Twelve years later, he can look back with satisfaction. His organization, Be. Artsy, a for-profit company, has conducted more than 3 500 programs across theater in public and private sector companies He has run his programs on American Express, Air India, National Stock Exchange, Volvo, PepsiCo India, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Reckitt Benckiser and others. The best part is that she has created a self sustaining business model.“Our first year’s turnover was Rs 4 lakh. In the second year it was Rs 11 lakh.

The last three years’ average turnover is Rs 1.5 crore,” says Shikhar, 38. The company that was started with only Shikhar has 16 regular employees now and a network of 800 Nikkei natal (street play) artists in 14 languages who are hired when required. Shikha became a victim of sexual harassment during her first internship at a radio station when she was just 21. She remembers how she had no idea about her boss’s intention when he offered to drop her home in his car.

The young girl was shocked when her boss slipped his hands under her skirt.“I was not a child then,” says Shikhar." I understood his intentions. He said everything was fine and there was nothing wrong. At a red light, I opened the car door and ran away. Shikhar says that he was also sexually harassed in other jobs. 't. I don't know what to say. She thinks she was victimized because her attackers knew she was from a middle-class family and could not afford to lose his job. "Some bosses said that if I needed a promotion and a raise, I had to sleep with them," says Shikhar, who comes from a very modest family.

Her father did odd construction jobs and the family struggled to make ends meet on their meager income. “He worked long hours,” she recalls. I saw him go to sleep around 2am and wake up at 7am and go to work. He worked hard to give us a good education. Shikha's older brother is now a Styilsh and her younger sister is working on a project making wigs for cancer patients. Shikha studied at Cambridge School, Srinivaspuri, Delhi, and graduated in History from Khalsa College. Subsequently, he completed a PG degree in Mass Communications and a Diploma in Business Studies from IIM, Bangalore. In 2010, he created Be. Arsty. He led his first outreach program at PepsiCo (India) in 2011. "I received financial support of Rs 4 lakh from Vodafone and since then I haven't looked back," says Shikha.

So far, he has led outreach programs in 14 renowned regions. compaines in India and connected approximately 25,500 employees. "It was tough. I approached about 5,000 companies and only managed to do programs in 14 companies, even though at least 95% of women experience sexual harassment in the workplace in one way or another. says Shikha. 

He believes companies are reluctant because they don't have the proper setup to deal with cases of sexual harassment in their offices. Having one is just for formality, nothing else, says Shikha. Through her programs, she raises awareness of what constitutes sexual harassment and how to report cases of harassment to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). Of the company. She says any company that has more than 10 employees should have an IPC and women can contact her by email, in person or by phone.

" However, in many companies, employees don't know about the ICC and if they know about it, I don't know how to file a complaint. But the feedback was positive from all the companies where he had run his programs. Better understand the subject and break the social stigma among employees on the subject. Shikha quoted comments from Kevin Cox, American Express"

In my 22 years of HR practice, I have never seen such an effective training and communication campaign on such a sensitive topic as POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment). At POSH, Shikha has also created a program.

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