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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT job

She says she was broken by authorities. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts personal security to assist other women caught in South Africa's unfortunately high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be determined, is among the more than a third of South African females 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 women who gathered 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 button that deploys security officers, a proof vault and 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 security officers, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights ought to be considered," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to give her genuine name to safeguard her safety.

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

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

In Peaches' case, she said she was forced to offer two policemans "services for complimentary" to evade arrest for prostitution.

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

"I wished to develop tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, guaranteeing they get the urgent aid, legal guidance and emotional assistance they need without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to assist' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported since 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, a woman in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she discovered aid was available.

An avid football player, she said her coach understood that "some swellings were not in fact related to football".

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

"It was actually heartwarming for me to find such a space," she said, choosing to provide only 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 happens.

It has a map of close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish proof like images, videos and police 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 very same workshop participated in by Peaches.

The app is free, moneyed 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 afford phone strategies or remain in backwoods 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 at first intended to offer only useful details, like how to obtain a defense order.

But its repertoire has actually been widened after feedback "that people are more thinking about speaking to 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 "an ideal storm" of an intricate history of colonisation and partition, belief in male supremacy, a lack of great function models and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.

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

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

"We need more programs that are not just going to be entirely focused on victim support, however perpetrator avoidance," Masiza said.

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

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