From "A 16-year-old girl learned a hand gesture on TikTok to signal for help. Law enforcement says it saved her life" (WaPo).
Here's the viral video:
November 8, 2021
"The 16-year-old girl sat beside her alleged kidnapper, looking out the car window at the other people on the road — people who could save her, if they only knew what was happening."
"She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t bang against the window. She couldn’t wave her arms around and mouth 'Help!' Not without putting herself in danger.
So she started flashing hand signals, hoping others knew what they meant. She didn’t use American Sign Language, but gestures she’d learned on the social media platform TikTok. Last year, the Women’s Funding Network, a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping women and girls, created the 'Signal for Help' gesture so people could communicate they were in danger without alerting those around them. The group’s video demonstrating the gesture later went viral on TikTok."
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25 comments:
Clever. At first I thought it would be too much of a tightrope--your abuser has no idea what you're doing, but your rescuer does--how would that work? But watching the video, it just might if word gets out--subtle enough that it might not be noticed by other than the person whose attention you have already gotten some other way.
A wonderful outcome to a potentially scary situation. However, if the distress signal becomes more widely known, the bad guys will know it too, making it less likely to be effective.
Kinda reminds me of my partner. When she was growing up, she and her 4 siblings played at being mentally disabled. One dragged his foot, another acted bipolar, and another had a drooping mouth and vacant stare, etc. The people around them were sympathetic, and offered help (money being the ultimate goal). Their parents were apoplectic when they found out. So fast forward a quarter of a century, to when she and her husband (at the time) were raising 4 kids together. They halled them back and forth between AZ and MT every summer, in non-stop 24 hour marathons. They, being kids, were often bored silly. So, being kids, they innovated. And one time, one of them made a sign essentially saying that they were handicapped and had been kidnapped. And made the requisite retarded facial gestures, etc, at the other cars, as they drove by. No one tried to stop them, but the parents got a lot of weird stares. Her husband was irate. She defended them, remembering her own childhood, though this time it was out of boredom, and not one of their scenes to make money.
What does "linked with" mean? She willingly went to travel with him and then her mood about it changed? I don't get it
The girl told detectives she’d linked up with Brick that day and had since traveled through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, where she and Brick allegedly stayed with his relatives. But they took off when Brick’s family realized the girl was underage and had been reported missing, Acciardo said.
“They didn’t want him to stay,” he said.
The two allegedly headed south and, as they did, the girl started flashing the hand signs.
That hand signal looks very similar to the manual alphabet gesture for the letter Ee. The only appreciable difference I see is the position of the thumb, which from a distance would likely be undetectable and irrelevant, like the presence or absence of serifs in the text on a roadside billboard.
As a signal meaning Help! I'm in danger! E makes perfect sense, perhaps better than any other single gesture of the manual alphabet. E for Emergency!
On the other hand (see what I did there?) revealing this "secret signal" in social media utterly defeats the purpose of the secret signal. I suppose it is a vain hope to wish social media users would at least occasionally shut the fuck up.
When you're in the Loudon County VA school district, you need a TV news crew, not a silent distress signal.
Subtlety is nice, but not quite a replacement for a society that would have confronted kidnappers trying to drag away a protesting child.
This is cool that it worked. In my mind I was thinking that, sign, being a more commonly used language, would be more helpful. But as it turns out, this is not so. I looked up the American sign language method of asking for help, and it requires two hands and movement. This might not be doable in a tight stress situation. Further, there are many sign languages, American being only one of them.
This TikTok version seems to be well thought out, simple, and clear. And...has probably been communicated now over multiple countries. That's a good thing. I'm going to try it out the next time my wife is driving.
from the wapo story as told by cops i would say this girl was stupid to begin with >>>>
The girl told detectives she’d linked up with Brick that day and had since traveled through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, where she and Brick allegedly stayed with his relatives.
Tic Tok saves the day???
Bullshit.
While my general view of TikTok is that it is a useless waste of time, in this case it certainly wasn't.
What a great idea! It should get more exposure to women and girls so they can have at least one more way to escape an attack or an ongoing abusive situation. Why aren't the feminists paying for PSAs on major networks?
'Law enforcement says it saved her life.'
Supposition.
Law enforcement says Trump is a Russian spy, etc., etc.
Btw, who is 'law enforcement.'?
Can't they quote a real source?
Right up there with Twitter's favorite 'Experts say...'
The abusers will now know this.
However, if the distress signal becomes more widely known, the bad guys will know it too, making it less likely to be effective.
True, but a) not everyone, and b) it's a simple gesture and can be screened by the body if need be. If the person is aware enough to flash it, they're probably aware enough to do it cleverly.
Its a good thing the kidnapper wasn't transgender otherwise this kidnapped gal would already have been arrested for a hate crime.
Is it cynical to say this signaling will be misused? Because my gut tells me that will happen.
1 "Law enforcement agents who helped save the 16-year-old admitted they didn’t know about the hand sign" The special TikTok signals were totally irrelevant.
2. She voluntarily went with this 61 year old guy and visited with his family for a few days.It is going to be hard to prove kidnapping.
seems like a concealed carry might have solved the problem too
The Chi Coms are winning the hearts and minds of our youth and people applaud. It's the most insidious form of recruiting double agents whom are completely unaware they have become tools of the People's Republic
If only Ashley Biden had known that signal before being dragged into the shower with the Big Guy. . . .
Temujin @11:52: "...the next time my wife is driving."
You are in BIG trouble, pal.
Her name wasn't Amber was it? I get alerts about Amber all the time, from Lawen Forsmentt.
To be fair, maybe it was only after meeting his family that she began to realize she was trapped.
Bruce Hayden's story about his wife's childhood is great. Reminds me a bit of The Twelve Chairs.
The trapped gesture seems like a good idea overall--could come in handy in many social situations, deployed discreetly.
What does "linked with" mean? She willingly went to travel with him and then her mood about it changed? I don't get it
It means she wasn't kidnapped. Also, the good Samaritan didn't recognize the meaning of the hand gesture, but those facts don't help the narrative.
The guy caught red-handed is an "alleged" kidnapper, but the J6 protests are not an "alleged" insurrection, even though nobody has even been charged with "insurrection."
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