Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research study for the GRIT project

She states 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 worker asked to be identified, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, according to UN figures.

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

Equipped with an emergency situation button that deploys gatekeeper, an evidence vault and 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 deploys gatekeeper, 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 give her genuine name to secure her security.

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

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

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

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

"I wanted to produce tech-driven services that empower survivors, guaranteeing they get the urgent aid, legal assistance and psychological assistance they need without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported since victims deal with stigma or are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

'There's a great deal of obstructions still in getting gain access to and aid,' Sokatsha states

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

Thato, visualchemy.gallery a lady in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she discovered aid was available.

A devoted football player, she said her coach understood that "some bruises were not in fact associated to football".

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

"It was in fact heartfelt for me to discover such an area," she said, choosing to give only her first name.

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

It has a map of close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish proof like pictures, videos and police reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

The features are based on user feedback gathered at workshops around the country.

"It will conserve lives," said one lady at the exact same workshop attended by Peaches.

The app is complimentary, moneyed by GRIT's donors consisting of 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 pay for phone plans or remain in backwoods with minimal networks.

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

Zuzi was initially intended to provide only practical details, like how to obtain a defense order.

But its collection has actually been widened 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 help females 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 "a perfect storm" of a complex history of colonisation and partition, belief in male supremacy, a lack of great role models and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Nation.

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

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

"We need more programmes that are not just going to be solely focused on victim assistance, but perpetrator avoidance," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against ladies and girls," UN Women GBV professional 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 understand when to report."