Zanele Sokatsha, larsaluarna.se centre, lead research study for the GRIT job

She says she was violated by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts personal security to assist other women caught in South Africa's tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be recognized, is amongst the more than a 3rd of South African ladies that will experience physical or sexual assault in their lifetimes, according to UN figures.

Slender and outspoken, she remained in a group of around 15 females who gathered late January to workshop the most recent upgrade of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that releases gatekeeper, an evidence vault and utahsyardsale.com a resource centre, the app will also include an AI-driven chatbot called Zuzi that will be showcased at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris this month.

The app has an emergency situation button that deploys security officers, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights must be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, wakewiki.de asking not to provide her genuine name to secure her security.

There were more than 53,000 sexual offences reported in South Africa in 2023-24, consisting of more than 42,500 rapes, according to authorities figures.

That same year, 5,578 females were killed, a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, she said she was required to offer 2 authorities officers "services totally free" to avert arrest for prostitution.

"To me, GRIT isn't simply a project-- it's a need," creator Leanora Tima informed AFP.

"I wanted to develop tech-driven services that empower survivors, ensuring they receive the urgent aid, legal assistance and psychological support they require without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported due to the fact that victims face preconception or are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

'There's a great deal of roadblocks still in getting gain access to and aid,' Sokatsha says

"There's a great deal of obstructions still in getting gain access to and aid," she said.

Thato, a woman in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she found aid was available.

An avid football player, she said her coach realised that "some bruises were not in fact related to football".

It was just when the coach took the group to an anti-GBV event in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she found out there were organisations that assist women in her situation.

"It was in fact heartwarming for me to find such an area," she said, preferring to offer only her very first name.

GRIT's app aims to make it much easier for females to gain access to resources from their homes, where much of the abuse occurs.

It has a map of nearby clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit evidence like photos, videos and cops reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

The features are based on user feedback gathered at workshops around the nation.

"It will save lives," said one woman at the very same workshop participated in by Peaches.

The app is totally free, moneyed by GRIT's donors consisting of the and Expertise France. It already has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without data, making it available to those who can not manage phone strategies or remain in backwoods with restricted networks.

The chatbot Zuzi, to be launched in the coming months, will be available on the app and likewise incorporated into certain social platforms, technical lead Lebogang Sindani said.

Zuzi was initially intended to provide only useful details, like how to obtain a defense order.

But its repertoire has actually been expanded after feedback "that individuals are more thinking about talking with Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to help females who are attacked and strong public condemnation of cases that make it to the media, South Africa's abuse rates remain stubbornly high.

It is "a perfect storm" of an intricate history of colonisation and partition, belief in male supremacy, a lack of good good example and financial tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.

"No young boy is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose nonprofit focuses on reaching males. "There's something failing in the journey from boy to male."

"All they know is violence," said Sandile Masiza, clashofcryptos.trade an organizer of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid welfare authority.

"We need more programmes that are not simply going to be entirely concentrated on victim assistance, but perpetrator prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against ladies and girls," UN Women GBV professional Jennifer Acio informed AFP.

"That's why we keep sharing details and trying to empower women ... to understand what is an abuse of their rights, to know when to report."