SignalForHelp, a silent tool against domestic violence during Covid -19 pandemic

SignalForHelp is quickly becoming a well-known international signal to get help. A discreet tool to fight the rise of domestic violence as a result of the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The signal was first introduced in Canada by the “Canadian Women’s Foundation” and later in the United States by the “Women’s Funding Network” (WFN), as a silent way for the victims of domestic violence and for anyone who feels threatened, forced as a result of the self isolation measures to live with their persecutors, to report a violence without speaking and with one simple gesture.

The signal, easily recognizable, is performed by holding your hand up with your thumb tucked into your palm, a simple movement directly made in front of the person you are speaking to, for example during a video call, then by folding your fingers down, symbolically trapping your thumb in your fingers as shown in the image up here.