Zanele Sokatsha, centre, lead research for the GRIT job
She says she was violated by authorities. Now she's an AI-integrated app with a panic button that signals private security to help other women caught in South Africa's unfortunately high rates of abuse.
Peaches, as the 35-year-old sex worker asked to be identified, is among the more than a 3rd 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 current update of the app developed by the nonprofit GRIT (Gender Rights In Tech).
Equipped with an emergency button that releases security officers, an evidence vault and a resource centre, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de the app will also consist of 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 gatekeeper, an an AI-driven chatbot
"This app, it's going to provide me that hope ... that my human rights need to be thought about," Peaches informed AFP, asking not to give her genuine name to safeguard 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 cops figures.
That same year, 5,578 females were murdered, a 34 percent rise from the previous year.
In Peaches' case, she said she was forced to give 2 cops officers "services for complimentary" to avert arrest for prostitution.
"To me, GRIT isn't simply a project-- it's a necessity," creator Leanora Tima told AFP.
"I wished to produce tech-driven solutions that empower survivors, ensuring they get the urgent aid, legal assistance and emotional assistance they need without barriers," Tima said.
- 'Roadblocks to assist' -
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 great deal of obstructions still in getting gain access to and aid,' Sokatsha says
"There's a lot 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.
A devoted football player, she said her coach understood that "some bruises were not in fact related to football".
It was just when the coach took the group to an anti-GBV occasion in Soweto, southwest of Johannesburg, that she found out there were organisations that assist women in her situation.
"It was in fact heartwarming for me to discover such an area," she said, preferring to provide just her very first name.
GRIT's app aims to make it simpler for females 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 proof like images, videos and authorities reports that will be secured on GRIT's servers.
The features are based on user feedback collected at workshops around the nation.
"It will conserve lives," said one woman at the same workshop participated in by Peaches.
The app is free, funded by GRIT's donors including the Gates Foundation and Expertise France. It currently 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 launched in the coming months, will be available on the app and likewise incorporated into certain social platforms, technical lead Lebogang Sindani said.
Zuzi was initially meant to provide only practical details, like how to obtain a security order.
But its repertoire has been broadened after feedback "that individuals are more thinking about talking to Zuzi about ... intimate things" like their health, Sindani said.
- 'All they know' -
Even if there are more services than ever to help females 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 a complex history of colonisation and partition, belief in male dominance, a lack of great good example and financial stresses, said Craig Wilkinson, founder of Father A Country.
"No young boy is born an abuser," said Wilkinson, whose nonprofit focuses on reaching males. "There's something failing in the journey from boy to male."
"All they understand is violence," said Sandile Masiza, a coordinator of the GBV Response Team for Johannesburg's kid well-being authority.
"We need more programmes that are not just going to be exclusively focused on victim support, but perpetrator prevention," Masiza said.
"Society has actually normalised violence against ladies and women," UN Women GBV specialist Jennifer Acio told AFP.
"That's why we keep sharing details and attempting to empower ladies ... to understand what is an abuse of their rights, to understand when to report."
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AI App Offers a Lifeline For S.Africa's Abused Women
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