Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT task

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

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be determined, is amongst the more than a third of South African women 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 most recent update of the app developed by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that deploys gatekeeper, a proof vault and asteroidsathome.net 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 give me that hope ... that my human rights must be considered," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to give her genuine name to protect her safety.

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

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

In Peaches' case, she said she was required to provide two cops officers "services free of charge" to evade arrest for prostitution.

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

"I wished to create tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, ensuring they get 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 due to the fact that victims face preconception or are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead scientist Zanele Sokatsha.

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

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

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

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

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

"It was really heartwarming for me to find such an area," she said, preferring to offer just her given 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 takes place.

It has a map of neighboring clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish proof like images, videos and visualchemy.gallery authorities reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will conserve lives," said one woman at the same workshop gone to 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, it can work without information, making it available to those who can not manage phone strategies or remain in backwoods with restricted networks.

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

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

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

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist ladies 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 a complex history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male dominance, an absence of good role designs and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Country.

"No boy 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 male."

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

"We require more programmes that are not just going to be entirely focused on victim support, however wrongdoer avoidance," Masiza said.

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

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