Zanele Sokatsha, centre, online-learning-initiative.org lead research for thatswhathappened.wiki the GRIT task

She says she was broken by authorities. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals personal security to assist other females captured 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 third of South African ladies that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their life times, 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 upgrade of the app established by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that releases 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 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 offer me that hope ... that my human rights ought to be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, garagesale.es asking not to give her real name to secure her security.

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

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

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

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

"I wanted to create tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, guaranteeing they get the immediate aid, legal assistance and psychological assistance they require 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 researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

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

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

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

A passionate football player, she said her coach understood that "some contusions were not really associated to football".

It was just when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she learned there were organisations that assist females in her situation.

"It was really heartwarming for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to give just her given name.

GRIT's app aims to make it easier for women 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 upload evidence like pictures, videos and cops reports that will be safeguarded on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will save lives," said one woman at the very same workshop gone to 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 restricted networks.

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

Zuzi was initially planned to offer only useful details, like how to obtain a security order.

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

- 'All they know' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist 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 best storm" of an intricate history of colonisation and partition, belief in male supremacy, an absence of good function designs and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Country.

"No boy is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose nonprofit focuses on reaching males. "There's something failing in the journey from boy to man."

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

"We require more programs that are not just going to be exclusively concentrated on victim support, but wrongdoer avoidance," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against women and girls," UN Women GBV expert Jennifer Acio informed AFP.

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