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

She says she was breached by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that notifies private security to assist other females caught in South Africa's unfortunately high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be determined, is amongst the more than a third of South African females that will experience physical or king-wifi.win 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 most recent 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 wolvesbaneuo.com a resource centre, the app will also consist of an called Zuzi that will be showcased at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris this month.

The app has an emergency button that deploys gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights need to be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to provide her real name to safeguard her safety.

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

That exact same year, 5,578 women were killed, engel-und-waisen.de a 34 percent rise from the previous year.

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

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

"I wanted to develop tech-driven services that empower survivors, guaranteeing they receive the urgent aid, legal guidance and emotional assistance they require without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported since victims face stigma 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 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 gamer, she said her coach realised that "some bruises 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, sitiosecuador.com that she learned there were organisations that help ladies in her scenario.

"It was really heartfelt for me to find such an area," 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 occurs.

It has a map of neighboring centers and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish proof like images, videos and cops reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will save lives," said one female at the exact same workshop attended 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 pay for phone plans or remain in rural locations with minimal networks.

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

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

But its collection has been widened after feedback "that individuals are more interested in speaking to Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they know' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist women 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 complicated history of colonisation and partition, belief in male dominance, an absence of great good example and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Country.

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

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

"We need more programmes that are not simply going to be solely focused on victim support, however perpetrator avoidance," Masiza said.

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