Teen Rescued After She Used The Domestic Violence Hand Signal To Alert Motorists

A 16-year-old girl was rescued in Kentucky from her abuser after she used a hand gesture to alert motorists that she needed help. The hand gesture involves the palm facing outwards and closing the fingers on your tucked-in thumb.

The girl had learnt this gesture on the social media app TikTok. So while she was sitting on the front seat, she made the hand sign from inside the car to alert people that she was being abused, without letting her abuser know she is doing so.

A motorist was able to identify the sign and immediately called 9-1-1 (emergency helpline). Law enforcement officers were dispatched urgently, who then intercepted the vehicle and rescued the minor.

“That hand gesture was everything. Had that not been...transmitted by the young lady, had there not been someone out there that knew how to interpret what she was doing, then who knows? We might not have had a good resolution on this,” Deputy Gilbert Acciardo said.

“We think that motorists and law enforcement agencies nationwide should be aware of this and know what the signal means, and I think it can be quite useful in the future,” he said.

The hand signal was developed by the Canadian Women’s Foundation and went viral on social media.

James Herbert Brick, 61, was arrested on the spot and charged with unlawful imprisonment and possession of sexual material of a minor, Acciardo revealed. He added that there may be additional charges.

The young girl was sent to a hospital and then handed over to her family who lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

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