This photographer documents women’s experiences of sexual harassment

London-based photographer Eliza Hatch has been documenting sexual harassment stories of everyday women on Instagram account @cheerupluv and her website.

Hatch’s Instagram account and website are filled with haunting, stark images of victims along with their stories of sexual harassment.

Image: Instagram @cheerupluv

The featured women cover off everything from cat calls on the street to sexual assault.

Hatch’s ongoing photojournalism project is focused on documenting the forms of sexual harassment that everyday women face and giving them a chance to be heard.

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Her website features an open call out to share your story with her.

Image: Instagram @cheerupluv

Although each story is unique, they all share the common threads of being verbally or physically abused and then the humiliation they feel afterwards.

Surprisingly, many of the accounts detailed by Hatch occur in public places with onlookers. 

Here, Hatch claims a space for women who are ignored when they are getting harassed in public, so they can get the chance to have a voice.

LISTEN: Join journalist Emmy Kubainski and clinical psychologist Kirstin Bouse as they discuss why women and men are all sick of the Harvey Weinstein's of this world getting a free pass and how to create the environment to push for change on 9Honey Life Bites.

https://omny.fm/shows/9honey-life-bites/sexual-harassment/embed?style=artwork

Hatch began this project in January 2017 and revealed to Jezebel that the themes behind Cheer Up Luv ‘have been a constant in my life’, but the main motivation was when a guy walked past her and told her to ‘cheer up’.

This angered her and after discussion with her friends, Hatch realised they had all experienced some level of harassment and it was only when her male friends voiced ‘their disbelief’ that she decided to give women a voice and start Cheer up Luv.

Eliza Hatch, photographer behind Cheer Up Luv. Image: @elizahatch

“I realised that it wasn’t just the harassment itself that was the problem, it was [also] the lack of awareness,” she told Jezebel.

Each photo is the result of Hatch making the subject feel comfortable to showcase their strength.

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On her website, Hatch writes: “Sexual harassment is common and often ignored by strangers. Sometimes we barely address it ourselves. We rarely complain or make a fuss, because we are so used to it. In any case, it shouldn’t be happening. So here is a place where women can collectively share their stories and in doing so, raise awareness.”