Canadian Women's Foundation – Signal for Help

When disaster strikes, domestic violence increases, and the Canadian Women’s Foundation was bracing for a surge as COVID-19 made its way through Canada. We had to find a way for victims to communicate during lockdown without being detected. We called it the Signal For Help – a discreet one-handed gesture designed as a single continuous hand movement that could be visible over video call. It involves holding your hand up to the camera with your thumb tucked into your palm, folding your fingers down and trapping your thumb in your fingers and means “reach out to me safely."