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

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

Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be determined, is among the more than a third of South African women that will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, 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 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 situation button that releases gatekeeper, 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 told AFP, asking not to provide her real name to secure her safety.

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 exact same year, 5,578 females were murdered, townshipmarket.co.za a 34 percent increase from the previous year.

In Peaches' case, clashofcryptos.trade she said she was required to give two law enforcement officers "services for totally free" to avert arrest for prostitution.

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

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

- 'Roadblocks to assist' -

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

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

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

Thato, akropolistravel.com a female in her 30s, said she sustained years of physical abuse by her stepfather before she found aid was available.

An avid football player, she said her coach understood that "some swellings were not actually related to football".

It was just when the coach took the group to an anti-GBV event in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she discovered there were organisations that assist women in her scenario.

"It was in fact heartwarming for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to offer only 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 close-by clinics and shelters and a digital vault where they can upload proof like photos, pipewiki.org videos and police reports that will be safeguarded on GRIT's servers.

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

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

The app is complimentary, 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 data, making it available to those who can not afford phone strategies or remain in backwoods with minimal networks.

The chatbot Zuzi, to be launched 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 offer only useful details, like how to obtain a protection order.

But its repertoire has been widened after feedback "that people 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 help 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 perfect storm" of an intricate history of colonisation and segregation, belief in male supremacy, an absence of good good example and economic tensions, said Craig Wilkinson, creator of Father A Nation.

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

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

"We require more programs that are not simply going to be solely concentrated on victim assistance, but perpetrator prevention," Masiza said.

"Society has actually normalised violence against females and girls," UN Women GBV professional Jennifer Acio informed AFP.

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