Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for fakenews.win the GRIT task

She says she was violated by cops. Now she’s brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals private security to help other ladies caught in South Africa’s tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be recognized, is among the more than a 3rd of South African women that will experience physical or sexual assault in their life times, demo.qkseo.in 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 update of the app developed by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency button that releases gatekeeper, prawattasao.awardspace.info an evidence vault and addsub.wiki 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 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 told AFP, asking not to provide her real name to protect 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 cops figures.

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

In Peaches’ case, wiki.fablabbcn.org she said she was required to provide 2 police officers “services for complimentary” to avert arrest for prostitution.

“To me, GRIT isn’t just a project-- it’s a need,” creator Leanora Tima told AFP.

“I wished to produce tech-driven options that empower survivors, ensuring they get the immediate aid, legal guidance 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 deal with stigma 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 lot of roadblocks still in getting gain access to and aid,” she said.

Thato, engel-und-waisen.de a lady in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she found aid was available.

A passionate football player, she said her coach understood that “some bruises 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 help females in her circumstance.

“It was really 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 upload proof like photos, videos and cops reports that will be safeguarded on GRIT’s servers.

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

“It will save lives,” said one female at the exact 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 afford phone plans or remain in backwoods with limited networks.

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

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

But its repertoire has been expanded after feedback “that individuals are more thinking about speaking to Zuzi about … intimate things” like their health, Sindani said.

- ‘All they understand’ -

Even if there are more services than ever to help females who are assaulted and strong public of cases that make it to the media, South Africa’s abuse rates remain stubbornly high.

It is “a perfect storm” of a complex history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male dominance, an absence of great good example and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.

“No kid is born an abuser,” said Wilkinson, whose not-for-profit focuses on reaching men. “There’s something failing in the journey from boy to man.”

“All they know is violence,” said Sandile Masiza, a coordinator of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg’s child welfare authority.

“We need more programs that are not just going to be solely concentrated on victim support, however perpetrator prevention,” Masiza said.

“Society has actually normalised violence against females and girls,” UN Women GBV specialist Jennifer Acio told 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.”