How a hand signal from Tiktok saved her life

Missing girl from North Carolina found!

Earlier this month, a sixteen-year-old girl from North Carolina was desperate to escape. She was riding in the back of a dangerous man’s vehicle and had been trying to get the attention of other cars passing by. She raised her hand in the window, put her thumb to her palm, and then covered her thumb with her four fingers. This was a viral hand gesture known from Tiktok to ask others for help.

After several attempts to get any passing car's attention, the hand gesture finally worked. Someone was driving behind the vehicle when they noticed the young girl make something like a fist in the window. They recognized the hand gesture as one from Tiktok that said, “help” or “domestic violence”. The person called 911, and the missing girl was rescued.

Abuse and domestic violence were on the rise during the pandemic. That is why the Canadian Woman’s Foundation created a hand gesture that could be used for victims to discretely ask for help in videos. The foundation said that the hand gesture was a “simple one-handed sign someone can use on a video call” in order to alert others to your situation.

Thanks to the rapid spread of information online, especially on Tiktok, this girl was able to get help.