Maebh Springbett
On 4 November a sixteen-year-old girl was rescued from a silver Toyota near London, Kentucky, about 150 miles south-east of Louisville, after having signalled to a passing driver using the hand gesture for domestic violence.
In a statement on 6th November the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office explained there was ‘a female passenger in the vehicle making hand gestures that are known on the social media platform TikTok to represent violence at home – I need help – domestic violence’.
“The 911 caller advised that the girl”
The 911 caller advised that the girl appeared to be in distress and continued to follow the Toyota while updating the authorities on the vehicles’ location by reading out the mile markers as they passed.
This allowed Laurel County Sheriff’s investigators to carry out a traffic stop, positioning themselves to watch for and intercept the passing vehicle as it exited the highway.
The girl’s captor James Herbert Brick, aged 61, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with unlawful imprisonment and possession of material depicting a sexual performance by another minor between the ages of 12 and 18. He is currently being held at the Laurel County Correctional Centre.
The teenager, reported missing by her parents in Asheville, North Carolina on 2nd November, revealed to investigators that she had travelled with Brick through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.
On reaching Ohio, Brick intended to stay with family but took off when his relatives realised the girl was underage and had been reported missing.
‘We didn’t even know what it meant. We definitely do now’
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, told WHAS that he believes the girl was resourceful in a situation in which there was very limited options but that she was lucky as most people may not have recognised the hand gesture’s meaning; ‘We didn’t even know what it meant. We definitely do now.’
This gesture used to signal domestic violence or distress was first introduced by the Canadian Women’s Foundation in April 2020 and was then populated on the social media platform TikTok.
It was intended to help those experiencing gender-based violence or an unsafe domestic environment during the Covid-19 pandemic and allows victims to discreetly ask for help when any other method would put them at risk.
The Women’s Funding Network (WFN) explained, ‘The program will assist survivors of intimate partner violence who may be connecting with friends, family and colleagues via video chats and meetings.’
The domestic violence signal is done by putting your palm up, tucking thumb into palm and closing fingers down.
Featured image courtesy of Michael Förtsch from Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
Maebh Springbett
While Head of Entertainment for Empoword Journalism, Maebh works in the Careers department at the University of Reading. Their writing focuses on music and has been published by the likes of Music Is To Blame and Dead Good Music. They aspire to work in non-fiction publishing.