Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT task

She states she was breached by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that informs personal security to help other women 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 ladies that will experience physical or sexual assault in their life times, according to UN figures.

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

Equipped with an emergency button that releases gatekeeper, prawattasao.awardspace.info an evidence vault and a centre, the app will likewise consist of 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 security officers, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to give me that hope ... that my human rights need to be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to offer her real name to protect her security.

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

That very same year, 5,578 ladies were killed, raovatonline.org a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

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

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

"I wanted to develop tech-driven options that empower survivors, ensuring they get the urgent aid, legal assistance and psychological assistance 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 scientist 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 roadblocks 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.

A devoted football player, ai she said her coach realised that "some contusions were not actually 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 females in her scenario.

"It was really heartfelt for me to discover such a space," she said, preferring to provide only her first name.

GRIT's app aims to make it simpler for women 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 publish evidence like photos, videos and authorities reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

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

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

Once downloaded, it can work without information, making it available to those who can not manage phone plans or remain in backwoods with limited networks.

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

Zuzi was at first planned to provide only practical details, like how to obtain a protection order.

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

- 'All they know' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist ladies 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 segregation, belief in male supremacy, a lack of good function designs and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Country.

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

"All they understand is violence," said Sandile Masiza, a planner of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid welfare authority.

"We require more programs that are not just going to be entirely concentrated on victim support, however wrongdoer prevention," Masiza said.

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

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