Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT project

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

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee 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 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 button that deploys security officers, a proof 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 button that deploys gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to give me that hope ... that my human rights ought to be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to give her real name to secure 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 females were murdered, a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

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

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

"I desired to create tech-driven options that empower survivors, guaranteeing they get the immediate aid, legal assistance and emotional support they need without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to assist' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported due to the fact that victims face stigma or are turned away by authorities, said GRIT lead researcher Zanele Sokatsha.

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

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

Thato, a lady 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 realised that "some bruises were not in fact related to football".

It was just when the coach took the team to an anti-GBV event in Soweto, elearnportal.science southwest of Johannesburg, that she learned there were organisations that help ladies in her circumstance.

"It was actually heartfelt for me to discover such an area," she said, to offer just her given name.

GRIT's app aims to make it simpler for women to gain access to resources from their homes, wiki.eqoarevival.com where much of the abuse occurs.

It has a map of close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can upload evidence like pictures, videos and authorities reports that will be safeguarded on GRIT's servers.

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

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

The app is totally free, 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 information, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de 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 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 been expanded after feedback "that people are more thinking about talking with Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

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

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

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

"We need more programs that are not just going to be entirely concentrated on victim assistance, but perpetrator avoidance," Masiza said.

"Society has normalised violence against females and girls," UN Women GBV expert 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 know when to report."