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

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

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be identified, is among the more than a third 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 collected late January to workshop the current update of the app developed by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that releases gatekeeper, an evidence vault and it-viking.ch 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 button that deploys gatekeeper, an an AI -driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights must be thought about," Peaches told AFP, asking not to offer her real name to safeguard her safety.

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

That very same year, 5,578 women were murdered, a 34 percent rise from the previous year.

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

"To me, GRIT isn't just a task-- it's a requirement," creator Leanora Tima informed AFP.

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

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

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

'There's a lot 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 discovered aid was available.

A devoted football gamer, she said her coach realised that "some swellings were not really related to football".

It was just when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she discovered there were organisations that assist ladies in her situation.

"It was in fact heartwarming for me to discover such an area," she said, choosing to provide just her very first name.

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

It has a map of neighboring clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit proof like pictures, videos and that will be safeguarded on GRIT's servers.

The functions are based on user feedback gathered at workshops around the country.

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

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

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

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

Zuzi was initially planned to supply only useful details, like how to obtain a security order.

But its collection has been broadened after feedback "that individuals are more interested in talking to Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to help women 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 "an ideal storm" of an intricate history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male supremacy, a lack of great role models and financial tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

"No kid is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose not-for-profit concentrates on reaching guys. "There's something failing in the journey from young boy to guy."

"All they know is violence," said Sandile Masiza, a planner of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid well-being authority.

"We need more programmes that are not just going to be exclusively concentrated on victim support, but wrongdoer prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against females and women," UN Women GBV expert Jennifer Acio informed AFP.

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