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Curiously, the middle finger has been used as a duress signal by prisoners of war: http://www.usspueblo.org/Prisoners/The_Digit_Affair.html

That was prisoners in North Korea at a time of much less intercultural contact. It might still work -- in North Korea -- today, or it might not. It could not possibly work anywhere else.

Indeed, times have changed. The whole world consumes American media. Despite this, my brother and I were able to have coded conversations in a European hostel (where everybody spoke English fluently) using shared anecdotes (Shaka, when the walls fell). We weren't in duress, but not all is lost for people who are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help

> The Signal for Help was introduced by the Canadian Women's Foundation on April 14, 2020.

Behavior change & language development take time.

Probably not very many, I've never heard of "domestic violence hand signals".

Well now you have.

And knowing is half the battle.