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

She says she was broken by cops. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals private security to help other women captured 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 3rd of South African females 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 women 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 deploys gatekeeper, a proof vault and a resource centre, the app will likewise 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 releases gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights should be considered," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to offer her real name to protect 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 cops figures.

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

In Peaches' case, she said she was required to provide 2 policemans "services for free" to evade arrest for prostitution.

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

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

to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported because victims deal with 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 says

"There's a great deal 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 found aid was available.

A devoted football player, she said her coach realised that "some contusions were not really related to football".

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

"It was really heartfelt for me to find such an area," she said, preferring to provide just her given name.

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

It has a map of nearby centers and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit proof like pictures, videos and authorities reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will save lives," said one woman at the very same workshop participated in by Peaches.

The app is complimentary, moneyed by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It already has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without information, making it available to those who can not manage phone strategies or remain in rural areas with minimal 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 offer only useful details, like how to obtain a protection order.

But its repertoire has been widened after feedback "that people are more thinking about talking to Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to assist women who are assaulted 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 complicated history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male dominance, an absence of excellent function models and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

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

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

"We require more programmes that are not just going to be entirely focused on victim support, however wrongdoer prevention," 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 women ... to know what is an abuse of their rights, to understand when to report."