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Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT task

She states she was violated by police. Now she's brainstorming an AI-integrated app with a panic button that alerts personal security to assist other ladies captured in South Africa's tragically high rates of abuse.

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be identified, 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 women who collected 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 gatekeeper, 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 releases security officers, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights must be considered," Peaches told AFP, asking not to provide 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, demo.qkseo.in 5,578 females were killed, gratisafhalen.be a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, forum.pinoo.com.tr she said she was forced to give two law enforcement officers "services for free" to evade arrest for prostitution.

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

"I wished to create tech-driven services that empower survivors, ensuring they receive the urgent aid, legal assistance and psychological support they require 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 scientist Zanele Sokatsha.

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

"There's a great deal of obstructions 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.

An avid football gamer, she said her coach understood that "some swellings were not in fact related 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 situation.

"It was really heartfelt for me to find such a space," she said, choosing to provide only her first name.

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

It has a map of close-by centers and shelters and a digital vault where they can publish evidence like photos, videos and authorities reports that will be protected on GRIT's servers.

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

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

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

Once downloaded, bytes-the-dust.com it can work without information, making it available to those who can not afford phone strategies or remain in rural areas with limited networks.

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

Zuzi was initially planned to supply only useful details, like how to obtain a protection order.

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

- 'All they understand' -

Even if there are more services than ever to help females 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 perfect storm" of a complex history of colonisation and partition, belief in male supremacy, an absence of great good example and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Nation.

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

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

"We require more programs that are not simply going to be solely focused on victim support, but wrongdoer avoidance," Masiza said.

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

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