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

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

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex employee asked to be recognized, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual assault in their life times, wiki.rrtn.org 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 update of the app established by the not-for-profit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).

Equipped with an emergency situation button that deploys security officers, an evidence vault and asteroidsathome.net a resource centre, championsleage.review 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 security officers, an an AI-driven chatbot

"This app, it's going to give me that hope ... that my human rights need to be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to offer her genuine name to safeguard her safety.

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

That exact same year, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr 5,578 females were murdered, a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, she said she was required to offer 2 law enforcement officers "services totally free" to evade arrest for prostitution.

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

"I desired to develop tech-driven services that empower survivors, ensuring they get the immediate aid, legal assistance and psychological assistance they require without barriers," Tima said.

- 'Roadblocks to help' -

Many cases of gender-based violence (GBV) go unreported due to the fact that 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 says

"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.

An avid football player, she said her coach realised that "some bruises were not really related to football".

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

"It was actually heartfelt for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to give just her given 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 clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can submit evidence like photos, videos and authorities reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.

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

"It will save lives," said one lady at the exact same workshop gone to by Peaches.

The app is free, funded by GRIT's donors consisting of the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It already has 12,000 users.

Once downloaded, it can work without data, making it available to those who can not manage phone plans or remain in backwoods with minimal 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 intended to provide only practical details, like how to obtain a defense order.

But its repertoire has been expanded after feedback "that individuals are more thinking about speaking with 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 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 complicated history of colonisation and partition, belief in male dominance, a lack of good good example and economic stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Nation.

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

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

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

"Society has normalised violence against females and girls," UN Women GBV Acio told AFP.

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