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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research study for the GRIT task

She states she was violated by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI -integrated app with a panic button that signals private security to help other women captured in South Africa's tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be recognized, is among 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 ladies who gathered late January to workshop the current update of the app established by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that deploys security officers, an evidence vault and a resource centre, the app will likewise 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 gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to give me that hope ... that my human rights ought to be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to offer 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 women were murdered, a 34 percent rise from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, she said she was forced to give two policemans "services free of charge" to avert arrest for prostitution.

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

"I wished to produce tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, ensuring they receive the immediate aid, legal assistance and emotional support they require without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

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

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

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

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

A passionate football gamer, she said her coach understood that "some bruises were not really related to football".

It was only when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she found out there were organisations that assist females in her scenario.

"It was actually heartfelt for me to find such an area," she said, preferring to offer just her very first name.

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

It has a map of close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish evidence like images, videos and cops reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will conserve lives," said one woman at the very same workshop attended by Peaches.

The app is complimentary, moneyed by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It currently has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr it can work without information, making it available to those who can not afford phone strategies or remain in backwoods with limited networks.

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

Zuzi was initially intended to provide only practical details, like how to obtain a protection order.

But its repertoire has been widened after feedback "that people are more thinking about speaking with Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more than ever to assist females who are assaulted 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 excellent good example and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

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

"All they understand is violence," said Sandile Masiza, an organizer of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's child welfare authority.

"We need more programs that are not just going to be entirely focused on victim assistance, however perpetrator avoidance," Masiza said.

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

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