A woman in Hickman County, Tennessee, was rescued after using a hand signal for help that went viral on TikTok early in the pandemic.
The woman, whose name was not disclosed, used the signal and mouthed the word “help” to a nearby shopper while in a convenience store, prompting a man, Eric Streeval, to have the clerk call 911, investigators told WKRN.
Streeval then took photos of the license plate of the truck in which the woman was seen. Local police chased the truck until it crashed. The woman was not injured in the crash. Jonathan Smith, reportedly the woman’s ex-boyfriend, was arrested on charges of aggravated domestic assault and aggravated kidnapping.
The help signal was created by the Canadian Women’s Foundation and approved by members of the deaf community, who said the sign did not mean something else in sign language. The purpose of the sign was to tell onlookers, discreetly, that help was needed, especially in the case of domestic abuse.
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The sign is created by facing the palm outward and placing the thumb on the palm of the hand while bringing the fingers over the thumb to “trap” it, according to the foundation.
Home isolation can increase the risk of violence.
If this is the case for you, use this signal on a video call to ask for help. If someone gives you this signal, visit https://t.co/5fr6MRuKh2 to learn how to check in safely and find support resources. #SignalForHelp #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/IceauYbXCx— Canadian Women’s Foundation (@cdnwomenfdn) April 14, 2020
The help sign was also used in November, leading to the rescue of a 16-year-old girl in North Carolina. The teenager was kidnapped by a man in her neighborhood and driven across multiple state lines. The girl, seeing the sign on TikTok, used it to attract the attention of other drivers. One driver noticed the sign and called the police, who stopped the duo and arrested the man.
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“We know often that people don’t reach out for help because it’s stigmatized and they are harmed and sometimes face negative consequences when they reach out for help,” Anuradha Dugal, vice president of community initiatives for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, told Fox News. “So for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, it was really important that this was made available to demystify the level of violence that women are facing and try and open up about what is typically a taboo subject.”
