In her new series, #FrontlineHarassment, photographer and @CheerUpLuv founder Eliza Hatch shines a light on the day-to-day abuse suffered by those on the front line of the pandemic
Despite COVID-19 locking most people in their houses for much of the last 18 months, many women still found themselves victims of harassment and abuse. While some experienced a heightened fear about public harassment due to less people being on the street, key workers – NHS staff, supermarket and postal workers, teachers, and more – were continuing to endure the abuse that has become a bleak and frightening normality of their day-to-day jobs.
Women make up the majority (58 per cent) of key workers in the UK, with 81 per cent of those working in childcare and 79 per cent working in health and social care identifying as women. As of 2016, 52 per cent of women said they have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours at work. For many, this didn’t improve when working from home measures were imposed last March, with a recent study revealing that 45 per cent of women experiencing sexual harassment at work reported being victimised online.
With the spotlight thrust on essential workers during the pandemic, photographer and @CheerUpLuv founder Eliza Hatch wanted to hear the stories from the frontline that rarely take centre stage. Her new photo series #FrontlineHarassment shines a light on the UK’s women key workers, and shares their testimonies of workplace abuse.
“When I first did the open call for the series, I was expecting to receive a few submissions,” Hatch tells Dazed. “I wasn’t prepared for the sheer volume of frontline-related stories I received. They spanned a huge array of experiences, including workplace bullying, sexual assault, and race or religion-related harassment. I photographed ten people for this series, but since sharing the testimonies online, I’ve heard hundreds of stories of harassment from key workers.”
Hatch says the stories she heard “felt like a direct contradiction to what I was seeing in the media, and of the messaging that was being pushed by our government throughout the pandemic”. The photographer adds that it was “jarring” to hear so many stories of abuse while millions across the country clapped for key workers and hailed them as “heroes”.
The “polarising narrative” that Hatch speaks of can also be seen in the government’s refusal to offer NHS staff a decent pay rise, despite many of them risking their lives to work during the pandemic.
“I want people to look at these photographs, read their adjoining stories, and take a moment to think about all the essential workers who have put their lives on the line over the past year and a half,” Hatch continues, “and to think of the added labour that’s not mentioned in the job description. On a more practical level, I’d like people to have more respect and empathy for others – especially those who are just going about their day-to-day jobs.”
Below, Dazed speaks to five of the key workers featured in Hatch’s series, who discuss the frequency of harassment at work, how their superiors respond to their complaints, and the ways in which this abuse impacts their mental health and ability to do their jobs. You can see the rest of Hatch’s series, and read the other workers’ experiences, in the gallery above.
KATHERINE, 27, TEACHER
“I was in my first year of teaching. One day I was leaning over to help a student with their work when I felt something push between my buttocks. I jumped up and shouted for the student to leave. I had to finish teaching the lesson, and by the time I spoke to management they were telling me it was an accident; that the student overbalanced and fell into me by mistake; that it was a pen, not a finger; that as it was an accident, it didn’t warrant exclusion as that would go on the student’s permanent record, which would be damaging for them. I never got an apology or an acknowledgement from the student about what they had done. I had to teach them for the rest of the year. No one ever asked how damaging it had been for me.”
 would be damaging for them. No one ever asked how damaging it had been for me” – Katherine)
How often do you experience harassment at work, and do you always report it?
Katherine: In four years, I have been sexually assaulted once, experienced a period of being stalked around the school – and once on the beginning of my journey home – and been the subject of rumours around upskirting. At least once a week I experience low level harassment, such as a student getting in your personal space, speaking to you using gendered or sexualised language, not following an instruction to leave your classroom, or following you after you’ve tried to finish a conversation.
I don’t report these unless they become frequent because when more serious incidents have occured, I haven’t felt supported by my superiors. There’s a tendency to minimise student behaviour or reference their circumstances as a form of excuse. I’m all for second chances, but I believe that in order for them to be fruitful, there needs to be acknowledgements, apologies, and then resolutions. There doesn’t tend to be the space or empathy for this to happen. I’ve struggled with this in particular working with men in leadership who don’t experience the same behaviours and find it difficult to relate to the vulnerability of being a young female member of staff.
What impact have these experiences had on you – both in terms of doing your job and on your mental health?
Katherine: For me, the constant threat of harassment is the hardest part of my job. I have positive relationships with the majority of my students, but whenever something happens either to me or one of my colleagues, it triggers my anxiety and makes me feel very vulnerable in my position. It’s exhausting.
“I’ve decided to take some time away from it now; ultimately, harassment in school has made me feel unable to be a teacher” – Katherine
How have your experiences of harassment changed during the pandemic?
Katherine: Having had some time away from the school environment during lockdown, it became apparent to me just how much of a strain existing in the school environment was putting on me. Being away from the students – and so away from the immediate threat of harassment – made me feel so much calmer. I’ve decided to take some time away from it now; ultimately, harassment in school has made me feel unable to be a teacher.
What do you hope people take away from hearing your story?
Katherine: We’re often seen as the role, not as humans with feelings – I’d like people to see teachers more in (the latter) way. I’d also love for teachers to stop being so sexualised in the media. I became a teacher to improve the life chances of young people, not to be lusted after.
DANIELLE, 26, COMMUNITY MIDWIFE
“I’m a midwife at a hospital in south west London, and I had to go to the IT department for some training. While (the guy) was waiting for the computer to load, we were making small talk. He asked me if I had kids; I said no. He asked if I wanted children; I said no. He asked me how my husband feels about that, and I told him I don’t have a husband. He asked if I had a boyfriend; I said no. He kept saying he couldn’t believe a girl like me wasn’t married with kids already. I told him just because I’m a midwife, doesn’t mean I have to want to have children. He started saying how I was ‘one of those independent types’ and said I must be a born-again virgin. He then put his hand on my thigh and said, ‘It’s OK, you’re just a girl who doesn’t need good dick’. I honestly thought I’d misheard him. It wasn’t until I went back to my office and told my colleague what had happened that it dawned on me how inappropriate it had been.”
How often do you experience harassment at work, and do you always report it?
Danielle: Since I’ve joined maternity care, I’ve experienced less harassment at work. It’s normally from male colleagues, though, or the general public if I’m seen out in my uniform. When I was working in nursing it was a regular occurrence for men to make lewd comments, touch me inappropriately, or masturbate into their bedsheets and ask for my help to clear it up. And the list goes on.
What impact have these experiences had on you – both in terms of doing your job and on your mental health?
Danielle: I’m now easily intimidated by men. I struggle to approach male colleagues to ask for advice or help. It’s affected my mental health significantly in that these experiences have made me wary of men, which has impacted relationships in my personal life. I’m extremely anxious around men, and try to avoid situations where I’d find myself alone with them.
“I’d love people to stop sexualising the roles of nurses and midwives. Our skills and professionalism are always undermined by the way we’re portrayed in the media” – Danielle
How have your experiences of harassment changed during the pandemic?
Danielle: Personally, I haven’t noticed a difference.
What do you hope people take away from hearing your story?
Danielle: I’d love people to stop sexualising the roles of nurses and midwives. Films like the Carry On… series have sexualised the nursing uniform, which leaves nursing and midwifery staff open to harassment. Our skills and professionalism are always undermined by the way we’re portrayed in the media. I want people to look past our uniforms and remember that nurses and midwives are degree educated, highly skilled, compassionate, and caring people.
RACHELLE, 23, CUSTOMER SERVICE WORKER
“The day before New Year’s Eve, I was sipping water at the end of my till when an elderly man inappropriately groped me. I shouted at him telling me he cannot touch me without consent. He laughed. I immediately reported it to my managers, but some of them didn’t believe me and thought it was an accident, or didn’t think it was serious because ‘he’s just an old man’. It (later) came to my attention that three other female staff members had also been assaulted by the same man. Immediately I put pressure onto my managers to get this man kicked out of the store. Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t been the worst case of sexual assault I have experienced, but you get so fed up of feeling helpless that eventually you act. It takes the courage of all the other times you’ve been silenced to eventually find your voice.”
How often do you experience harassment at work, and do you always report it?
Rachelle: Almost daily. If it wasn’t inappropriate comments from middle-aged men or customers touching my waist and shoulders, it was homophobic comments from co-workers. Reporting instances is easier said than done, especially when reporting to male superious. They rarely see it as something serious; from my experiences reporting sexual harassment, the blame is almost always shifted onto the victim.
What impact have these experiences had on you – both in terms of doing your job and on your mental health?
Rachelle: I suffer from social anxiety and tend to have quite intrusive thoughts, which worsened as this case (with the elderly man) went on. There was an underlying feeling of guilt – that maybe it was my fault and I was villanising an innocent old man. This is the cost of gaslighting people’s experiences, and victim-blaming instead of holding offenders accountable. Every time I saw him in the store, my body would freeze and I’d want to disappear. I’d often try to hide in the staff bathroom and catch my breath whenever I saw him. I found it difficult to feel in control of my panic.
“Reporting instances is easier said than done, especially when reporting to male superious. They rarely see it as something serious” – Rachelle
How have your experiences of harassment changed during the pandemic?
Rachelle: During lockdown, there was a faint cloud of bliss among marginalised people, as harassment was significantly reduced while everyone had to stay indoors. Now that the UK has opened back up, harassment and hate crimes are rising. It makes me reevaluate how I dress, and forces me to think about how people will perceive me. I’ve never been someone who changes myself for validation or to make others feel comfortable, but lately I find myself changing outfits as I don’t want to have to deal with potential harassment. My self-expression and style means everything to me, so to have to water it down to feel safer is dispiriting. Clothing does not determine the actions of others – entitlement and ego do.
What do you hope people take away from hearing your story?
Rachelle: I hope people understand how important it is to believe those who come forward with their experiences, and that speaking up for others – especially when you hold a lot of privilege – can save lives and change people’s perceptions. Sometimes the smallest actions have the biggest impact.
BECCA, 28, NURSE
“I was working in a busy A&E, and a man attended with his brother who had learning difficulties – he was in a terrible state and clearly hadn’t been cared for properly. I asked the brother to step out, (but he) refused. I asked the man with learning difficulties if he was comfortable with his brother staying, and he said he was. I began to undress the man, and when I bent over to pick up a towel from the floor, the brother said, ‘You’re giving me ideas bending over like that, I’ve always had a thing for nurses’. I immediately told the man how inappropriate his comment was, but he still refused to leave the room when asked. I felt intimidated and frightened being in the cubicle with him. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. I told a senior staff member and they simply just said, ‘Unfortunately it’s one of those things we come across’.”
 said, ‘You’re giving me ideas bending over like that, I’ve always had a thing for nurses’. I felt intimidated and frightened being in the cubicle with him. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time” – Becca)
How often do you experience harassment at work, and do you always report it?
Becca: At least a couple of times a month. I’ve frequently experienced both patients and colleagues touching me without my consent (usually grabbing my arm to look at my tattoos), along with creepy, generic ‘sexy’ nurse comments from patients. The experience (with the brother) opened my eyes to these ‘smaller’ microaggressions.
What impact have these experiences had on you – both in terms of doing your job and on your mental health?
Becca: It’s made me very vigilant when working with male patients now – I find myself constantly checking to see if my work dress is pulled down enough when I’m sat down. I have a slight distrust of male patients, particularly those who are older as, from my experience, they are the main perpetrators of harassment.
“(The pandemic has) made me realise that it can be possible to go through a working week without having to navigate an inappropriate comment, which is a sad realisation” – Becca
How have your experiences of harassment changed during the pandemic?
Becca: During lockdown, my experience improved as I wasn’t seeing as many patients face-to-face. Although the levels of harassment are no more now than they were before, since the return of in-person appointments, the harassment has felt amplified due to the respite I had during lockdown. (The pandemic has) made me realise that it can be possible to go through a working week without having to navigate an inappropriate comment, which is a sad realisation.
What do you hope people take away from hearing your story?
Becca: I hope that perpetrators of sexual harassment realise the effect that they’re having; that a comment can have a profound impact regardless of whether it’s meant as ‘a bit of fun’. Perpetrators need to take responsibility for their actions, and acknowledge that it lends to a society that projects aggression towards women.
SASCHA, 25, POSTAL WORKER
“As a postwoman, I get catcalled and shouted at by workmen most days of my working week. Some weeks it’s every single day. It got to the point at the beginning of this year where I was having to fight off panic attacks whenever I was delivering to houses having work done. I’d feel my gut twist as work vans passed me, anticipating the shouts, leers, and invasive comments about my body. Last week, a middle aged man was parked across the driveway of a house I was delivering to, and he leaned out of his window and said, ‘Girl, you need to stop moving so fast, your body is making me sweat’. I felt embarrassed, uncomfortable, scared, and unsafe. I’m tired of being treated like this just for being a woman. Like my male colleagues, I’m just trying to work to pay my bills.”
How often do you experience harassment at work, and do you always report it?
Sascha: Usually three to four times a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I’ve only reported a handful of instances; when the harassment is continual and site specific, it’s a lot easier to report. My direct manager has been supportive, and my workers union has women’s representatives who can advocate for us. However, views elsewhere in the company and union are often dated and, having spoken with other postwomen, I’m aware of many instances where harassment at work hasn’t been taken seriously.
What impact have these experiences had on you – both in terms of doing your job and on your mental health?
Sascha: Harassment has impacted my mental health in a big way. When I first spoke with Eliza (for this photo story), I’d just been signed off with anxiety and ended up being unable to work for over a month. I was intimidated, embarrassed, and growing more on-edge every day, anticipating the next jeer, car horn, or unsolicited sexual comment.
“I was intimidated, embarrassed, and growing more on-edge every day, anticipating the next jeer, car horn, or unsolicited sexual comment” – Sascha
How have your experiences of harassment changed during the pandemic?
Sascha: The first lockdown was bliss because everywhere was so quiet. Less people = less harassment. As the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns progressed, however, the catcalling and unsolicited comments increased tenfold. Many of us felt restless and frustrated as a result of the pandemic, and it seemed that some were channeling that energy via screaming at postwomen from van windows.
What do you hope people take away from hearing your story?
Sascha: I hope people view harassment more seriously, and call out those around them when they engage in problematic behaviour. It’s often brushed aside as a compliment or ‘banter’, but in reality these experiences are often invasive, uncomfortable, and dehumanising. I encourage everone to have a little more empathy.