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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT project

She says she was violated by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals 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 3rd 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 females who gathered late January to workshop the current upgrade of the app developed by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency button that deploys security officers, a proof vault and a resource centre, vmeste-so-vsemi.ru 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 deploys gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

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

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

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

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

"To me, GRIT isn't simply a job-- it's a requirement," founder Leanora Tima told AFP.

"I wished to develop tech-driven services that empower survivors, ensuring they get the urgent aid, legal assistance and emotional assistance 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 scientist 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 lady in her 30s, said she sustained years of by her stepfather before she found aid was available.

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

It was only when the coach took the group to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, annunciogratis.net that she learned there were organisations that assist ladies in her circumstance.

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

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

It has a map of neighboring centers and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit evidence like images, videos and authorities reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will save lives," said one lady at the same workshop gone to by Peaches.

The app is complimentary, asteroidsathome.net 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 information, making it available to those who can not pay for phone plans or remain in backwoods with restricted networks.

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

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

But its collection has been expanded 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 help women 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 a complicated history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male dominance, an absence of good function designs and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.

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

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

"We need more programs that are not simply going to be solely concentrated on victim support, however wrongdoer prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has normalised violence against women and girls," UN Women GBV specialist 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."