The Signal for Help I Created Went Viral. Now It Could Be Misused

In 2020, I helped create the Signal for Help, a hand signal that communicates to friends, family, and bystanders that "I need you to check in on me in a safe way." Our team promoted the Signal for Help across social media, anticipating a pandemic-related rise in already high rates of gendered violence, and it went viral in November 2021 during a charged time of anxiety, stay-at-home directives, and the proliferation of video calling. ANDREA GUNRAJ is vice president of public engagement at the Canadian Women's Foundation. She has worked in gender-based violence prevention and intervention, equity and inclusion, systemic anti-racism practice, human rights, and sexual and reproductive health. She has a passion for intersectional feminism and innovative public education and is a trainer, public speaker, and author. Cases of women and girls using the Signal for Help to get help in dangerous situations have made the news.