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

She states she was broken by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals personal security to help other ladies caught in South Africa's unfortunately high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be identified, is among the more than a third of South African females that will experience physical or sexual abuse 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 most recent upgrade of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency button that deploys gatekeeper, a proof vault and 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 releases gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights need to be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to provide her genuine name to safeguard 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 very same year, 5,578 ladies were killed, a 34 percent from the previous year.

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

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

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

- 'Roadblocks to assist' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported since victims deal with preconception 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 states

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

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

A passionate football player, she said her coach realised that "some swellings were not in fact related to football".

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

"It was in fact heartfelt for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to give just her given name.

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

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

The functions are based upon user feedback collected at workshops around the country.

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

The app is complimentary, funded by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It currently 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 rural areas with limited networks.

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

Zuzi was initially intended to offer only useful details, like how to obtain a security order.

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

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist 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 library.kemu.ac.ke segregation, belief in male supremacy, a lack of great role designs and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

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

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

"We require more programs that are not simply going to be exclusively concentrated on victim support, but perpetrator prevention," Masiza said.

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

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