The launching point for Stop Street Harassment was when CNN.com featured my thesis about street harassment in a 2008 article called, “Catcalls: Creepy or a Compliment?”

I’m pleased to say that four years later, they have another homepage feature about street harassment and this time the issue is taken more seriously. It opens:

“Head down, look straight ahead. Earbuds in, volume off. Walk quickly, but with purpose. Don’t make eye contact unless you need to. Look behind you every few blocks, make sure you’re not being followed. Don’t be obvious.

It’s not nighttime. You’re not in a known drug zone, or the sketchy part of town.

This is simply how many women steel themselves when walking down a city street in broad daylight, or even when boarding crowded public transportation. Why? Because many women, regardless of age, weight, or appearance, say they’ve heard something along the lines of “Hey baby, you want some of this?” or “I like what I see” or “nice ass.”

All of those statements are sexual harassment. And while some men might consider them compliments, to many women, they are a threat.”

A lot has changed in four years thanks to people around the world who are relentlessly and bravely speaking out.

Since 2008 there are now are several anti-street harassment organizations. We’ve had a city council hearing on street harassment in New York City. The United Nations launched a Safe Cities Programme in five countries. Hollaback launched their iphone app.  Websites tracking street harassment popped up in dozens of countries. More than 100 groups from over 20 countries spoke out collectively in March during Meet Us on the Street: Street Harassment Awareness Week. My book came out in 2010 and since then, I’ve given 75 talks on the topic. And on and on.

In today’s CNN.com article, research is cited from a new study by Hollaback and Cornell University about street harassment in New York City. This is important data.

But we also need national data documenting the problem. Please donate today to help Stop Street Harassment undertake this important initiative. Let’s continue to move the dialogue forward with not only our stories, but also with national statistics.

What do you think the photo to the right, taken in 1945 in New York’s Times Square, depicts?

An only-in-the-movies romantic gesture? A passionate kiss between two lovers who’ve been kept apart by war?

What about street harassment?

Unfortunately, despite its iconic status and the way it has come to symbolize  World War II ending and and the baby boom beginning, it turns out that’s exactly what it depicts: unwanted sexual conduct between strangers in a public space.

Crates and Ribbons reports:

“For a long time, the identity of the pair remained a mystery. It certainly looks passionate and romantic enough, with many speculating that they were a couple – a sailor and a nurse, celebrating and sharing their joy. This year, however, historians have finally confirmed that the woman is Greta Zimmer Friedman, a dental nurse at the time, and George Mendonsa, a sailor.

Have a look at some articles about it. Do you get the feeling that something is not quite right?

Huffington Post | Daily Mail | CBS News

A few facts have come to light. Far from being a kiss between a loving couple, we learn that George and Greta were perfect strangers. We learn that George was drunk, and that Greta had no idea of his presence, until she was in his arms, with his lips on hers.

The articles even give us Greta’s own words:

“It wasn’t my choice to be kissed. The guy just came over and grabbed!”

“I did not see him approaching, and before I knew it, I was in this vice grip.”

“You don’t forget this guy grabbing you.”

“That man was very strong. I wasn’t kissing him. He was kissing me.”

It seems pretty clear, then, that what George had committed was sexual assault. Yet, in an amazing feat of willful blindness, none of the articles comment on this, even as they reproduce Greta’s words for us. Without a single acknowledgement of the problematic nature of the photo that her comments reveal, they continue to talk about the picture in a whimsical, reverent manner, “still mesmerized by his timeless kiss.” George’s actions are romanticized and glorified; it is almost as if Greta had never spoken.”

I’m not surprised her story is being dismissed. The truth would make this famous story depict something unpleasant rather than the “feel-good” story we think we know when we look at it.

From the nursery rhyme “Georgie Porgie Pudding in Pie/Kissed the Girls and Made them Cry,” to the boys who chased us in elementary school trying to kiss us against our will, to the Looney Tunes cartoon character Pepé Le Pew who spends every episode trying to kiss a female cat against her will (interestingly, Pepé was introduces in 1945), unwanted kissing is seen as cute or funny, not as sexual harassment and certainly not as sexual assault.

But it is. As someone who has been kissed against her will, I can attest: it’s uncomfortable, it’s gross, and it’s unnerving.

The first time my partner kissed me on our first date in college, he asked. That’s how it should be. Every intimate act should have consent, including kissing.

So, I will speak the uncomfortable truth and call out this iconic photo. Strangers have no right and no place to kiss strangers, even if they’re overjoyed at being back from war.

He should have asked her for permission and respected her autonomy, her body, and her feelings.