How the anti -violence signal works that saved a girl in Vimodrone

He folded the thumb and closed the other fingers in hand. A girl is saved from violence thanks to Signal for Helpa gesture that can be used to launch the alarm, to report to be under threat and need help. The hand must be held up, the palm in front of the interlocutor. First you fold the thumb in the palm, then the other fingers must be bent down. In the end the thumb is close between the fingers and the palm.

The help signal was introduced for the first time in Canada on April 14, 2020, by Canadian Women’s Foundation. Was conceived how tool to combat the increase in cases of domestic violence which occurred all over the world, during the Lockdown imposed by Pandemia. It is designed as a single continuous movement of the hand and can be easily used to ask for help even during video calls, it is not sound and leaves no digital trace. It was also adopted in the United States through the Women’s Funding Network and has become an international gesture

TO Vimodronein the Milanese, in recent days a 17 -year -old girl molested by a thirty year old was saved thanks to this gesture. A woman called her father on the phone because, while walking with the dog, she noticed the minor, sitting in a public park in Vimodrone in broad daylight with a man who kept her tight. The 17 -year -old secretly made the “Signal for Help”, the signal of the hand that closes with the thumb inside the fist.

The father of the woman, a Peruvian citizen, reached the park. The Corriere della Sera He reports his words: «To my question if there were problems, she at first replied nothing, but she moved her head, as if to say ‘no’. I understood that something was wrong. The man, a North African, got up, it seems to me he said that nothing was wrong, but then he ran away. The young woman was frightened, and in the end I ran to meet me ».

He then collaborated with the Carabinieri of Vimodrone for the recognition of the suspecta thirty -year -old uncensored Egyptian who was stopped. The seventeen year old and the man, according to what was reconstructed, had met the same day. The girl had fallen and the man had helped her before starting to harass her.

For all women who find themselves in a dangerous situation there is a toll -free number. The 1522 It is a public service promoted by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department for Equal Opportunities. The number, free is active 24 h on 24, welcomes with specialized operators the requests for help and support of women victims of violence and stalking.