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Welcome to Part 2 of our May, 2025 Inspirational Interview with Eliza Hatch.

Eliza Hatch is a photographer, speaker, curator, digital creator, and the founder of Cheer Up Luv. Eliza founded Cheer Up Luv 8 years ago as a photo series retelling women and gender-diverse people’s experiences of public sexual harassment. Cheer Up Luv has evolved into a globally renowned educational platform and community combining art with journalism, activism, social media, and a podcast that facilitates discussions around feminism, misogyny, and everyday sexism. Eliza has worked with the United Nations and has been featured on the BBC and Channel 5 News discussing women’s safety and sexual harassment.

In this part of the interview, Eliza talks about her work with the Hysterical Collective and her plans for Cheer Up Luv.

Part 1 of Eliza’s interview was published 4 May, 2025.

All pictures courtesy of Eliza Hatch.

6. Aside from leading Cheer Up Luv, you are also the co-curator for the Hysterical Collective which holds a yearly group exhibition and event series running throughout Women’s History Month for women and non-binary artists to reclaim the term hysterical. Could you tell us more about it and how it fits into your overall work to raise awareness about VAW?

I teamed up with Bee Illustrates in 2022 to co-found Hysterical Collective as a way to collaborate, find community and create spaces and opportunities for women and people of marginalised genders in the creative industry who wanted to make change in the world through their art.

Working as an artist and activist, or artivist as some might say, can be overwhelming, isolating, and difficult at times. Up until that point, I had mostly worked alone and, coming out of the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bee and I were desperate to create community and spaces of our own, as we felt the current creative landscape was lacking. We called our collective “Hysterical” to fight against the outdated stereotype of women and people of marginalised genders getting cut down, called dramatic or too sensitive each time they raised their head above the parapet. The act of creating a community for women and LGBTQ+ folks and celebrating subversive art and acts of rebellion against gender norms feeds into everything I do with my work with Cheer Up Luv.

 

7. One of the keys to eradicating VAW is to get men and boys on board efforts to do so. What do you think are the most effective ways of galvanising men and boys to help to end VAW?

In order to engage men and boys in the conversation, we need all parts of society to prioritise the issue of VAW. We need to have an open, honest and continual dialogue with men and boys about how they are not the problem–they are part of the solution. So many men are turning away completely from progression around gender equality, feminist issues, and solving gender-based violence because they feel attacked, threatened and that their voices don’t matter. While it’s imperative that society, governments, and industry leaders start listening to women and the most vulnerable people in our society and we centre a survivor-led approach to tackling these issues in the future, it’s also important we bring as many men and boys into the conversation as possible to make them feel like they have a seat at the table in contributing to solving the problem.

 

8. Tell us about Cheer Up Luv’s plans for the future. What campaigns, programmes, or projects do you have coming up in the next 5 years?

In terms of Cheer Up Luv’s plans, I am hoping to do more photography this year. At some point I would really like to bring out a book that collates the progress and charts the journey of Cheer Up Luv over the past 8 years, but that also acts as a guide or handbook to myth-busting and tackling misogyny and sexism. I am continuing my facilitation work in schools with Our Streets Now, looking at growing the platform and brands, but ultimately I hope to leave behind a trail of work which has made an impact on challenging the normalisation of sexual harassment, and increasing awareness around the prevalence of misogyny and gender inequality.

 

9.How can The Pixel Project’s supporters engage with and support Cheer Up Luv’s efforts to stop violence against women?
In terms of supporting the work Cheer Up Luv does, you can:

In terms of supporting the wider fight for ending violence against women, you can:

  • research charities to support or volunteer at one
  • speak to your friends and family about the issue
  • call in your friends on certain problematic behaviours; or
  • come together to organise in your community or circle of friends around a specific issue to do with gender-based violence.

It’s easier to start by trying to change something small and aim high, rather than tackling the entire issue at once.

 

10. In your considered opinion, how can we end VAW for good?

We can only tackle the problem of male violence against women once we have everyone on board. Too often, women in society have been burdened with solving the issue of gender-based violence alone, and we know that we need all parties and allies involved if we are going to make a change. We need continued education, awareness, and advocacy around the harms of misogyny and impact of gendered violence if we are ever going to solve it.