A new hand signal has been created to help those who are suffering from domestic abuse discreetly ask for help.
Established by the Canadian Women's Foundation, the charity reported an increase in incidents of domestic violence because of the lockdown measures implemented to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
That's why they created the "Signal for help", which allows victims of domestic violence to discreetly ask for help on video calls.
Watch the signal being in used in the viral TikTok below:In the promotional video, a woman can be seen calling a friend to ask for her banana bread recipe, and while chatting, she raises her hand to make the clasped first gesture to signal that she is in danger.
Her friend immediately recognizes that she is in trouble, but to help keep her safe, she continues the call like nothing has happened so that the man in the background is not alerted to her cry for help.
The TikTok was captioned: "She is experiencing abuse and signaling for help without leaving a digital trace."
The hand gesture has now been shared on various social media platforms including Twitter and TikTok in the hope that it will save lives.
Describing the signal on their website, the charity wrote: "'Signal for Help is a simple one-handed sign someone can use on a video call. It can help a person silently show they need help and want someone to check in with them in a safe way."
However, the charity did acknowledge that the signal won't be suitable for everyone, adding: "The Signal for Help is a tool that may help some people, some of the time. Some people do not have the ability to make video calls. "
That's why the charity linked number of additional resources for victims of domestic abuse here, providing helpful advice about what to do next if a person makes the gesture with examples of simple yes or no questions.